I am expecting a mortgage with Lloyds. I intend to instruct a Licensed Conveyancer in Penyffordd. Does the Lloyds Solicitor panel exclude Licensed Conveyancers?

The Lloyds conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders, represented by the Council or Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.

As someone unfamiliar with conveyancing in Penyffordd what’s the number one tip you can impart concerning the house moving process in Penyffordd

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Penyffordd or throughout Flintshire is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for friction between you and other parties involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the vendor, estate agent and sometimes your mortgage company. Selecting a law firm for your conveyancing in Penyffordd an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the legal process whose responsibility is to act in your legal interests and to protect you.

There is a definite increase of a "blame" culture- someone has to be blamed for the process being so protracted. You your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor ahead of the other players in the conveyancing process.

We had selected conveyancing lawyers located in Penyffordd on the Lloyds solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional amount for dealing with the Lloyds mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Lloyds?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitor may charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Lloyds but by your Penyffordd solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Lloyds panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.

I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Penyffordd. I have a mortgage agreed with Bank of Ireland. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel.

Co-operative have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a property in Penyffordd has been accepted, what are the next steps?

The property agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the property lawyers are on the bank’s panel). Call up Co-operative or the broker and finalise any appropriate paperwork. Co-operative will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or owners to book a time for the valuation to occur. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Co-operative will send the offer to you and your conveyancers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Penyffordd.

It has been five months since my purchase conveyancing in Penyffordd completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one close by in Penyffordd I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it only has 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Penyffordd for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.