My wife and I are hoping to buy a property in Penryn and have instructed a Penryn conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Penryn lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Penryn lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

Do the conveyancing lawyers that you recommend carry out conveyancing in Penryn by way of an attended exchange?

We do have a number of conveyancing experts who can conduct 24hr exchanges. Do call us to receive a costs illustration and details as to dates.

Should lawyers request an advanced payment when it comes to conveyancing in Penryn?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Penryn your solicitor will request that you to provide them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. When the down payment is payable against the purchase price then this will be asked for shortly ahead of exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is needed will be payable shortly before completion.

I have justfound out that Stirling Law have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Penryn for a purchase of a leasehold flat 9 months ago. How can I establish that the property is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest way to check if the premises is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Penryn conveyancing specialists.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Penryn from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Penryn can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ solicitors.
If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Penryn home move. If a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Penryn state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Should you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand. If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

Penryn Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold reversion is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders enjoy control and although a managing agent is usually employed where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. It is important to be aware whether fixing the lift or some other significant cost is due in the near future that will be shared by the tenants and will dramatically increase the the maintenance charges or require a one off payment. Does the lease include onerous restrictions?