We note that you have a post code search directory listing solicitors on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a commission if I retain them for our conveyancing in Pocklington?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Pocklington.

The Pocklington conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Pocklington have without warning shut down. I chose them because I had to have a firm on the Nottingham conveyancing panel and my previous Pocklington lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for £250 in advance. What are my options?

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to assist.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Pocklington is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Pocklington are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Pocklington you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Pocklington may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Pocklington. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Pocklington who previously acted has now retired. Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Pocklington conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I invested in buying a split level flat in Pocklington, conveyancing formalities finalised January 2006. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Pocklington with a long lease are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2093

With just 69 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

At last I have had an offer on an flat in Pocklington agreed to, but there is a chain. The sellers have offered on a property, although it’s not yet tied up, and has viewings of other apartments booked. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in Pocklington. What do I do now? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Nottingham?

It is understandable to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is approx £1k, then valuation, Pocklington conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you should check that your lawyer is on the Nottingham approved list. Concerning the next phase this very much depends on the uniqueness of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a hot market some home buyers would apply for a home loan with Nottingham and arrange for the survey and only if it comes back ok would they request their lawyer to move forward with searches.