I am under pressure from the mortgagee in possession of a property in Risca to sign contracts within four weeks. What can I do to speed up matters?

In the event that the seller is applying time constraints to exchange we would recommend that your lawyer is familiar with the area as they will make use of local contacts and insight. It is possible that they may have conducted otherhomes in the same neighbourhood. You would be best advised to use a Risca conveyancing firm. Second, check that the conveyancing firm is on the member panel. It is believed that 18% of Risca conveyancing deals are delayed or jeopardised after discovering a buyer’s solicitor was not on their mortgage lender’s member panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the legal transfer of property being frustrated by almost 21 days. It is said that this issue impacts approximately one hundred thousand home moves every year. Almost all Risca conveyancing firms can not represent certain lenders so do check at the outset.

We are buying a purpose built flat in Risca with a loan from Alliance & Leicester .We have a Risca conveyancing solicitor but Alliance & Leicester advised that he's not listed on their "panel". we are left little option but to use a Alliance & Leicester panel firm or keep our local solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Alliance & Leicester use our lawyer?

No, not really. The loan issued to you is subject to its various provisions, a common one being that conveyancers must be on the Alliance & Leicester solicitor panel. in the past, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Alliance & Leicester

This question may be naive but I am new to the home buying as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Risca. Do I collect the keys to the house on the completion date from my lawyer? If so, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in Risca?

On the day of completion you do not need to attend the conveyancers office in Risca. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you will be able to collect the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.

A relative advised me that in purchasing a property in Risca there may be a number of restrictions preventing external changes to a property. Is this right?

We are aware of a number of properties in Risca which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Risca should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by RBS. Is it usual for RBS to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Risca is approved on their conveyancing panel? RBS have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.

A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for RBS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the RBS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Risca I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Risca for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

Should you require a mortgage that many years will likely be problematic. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Risca. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I own a 1st floor flat in Risca, conveyancing having been completed 6 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Risca with a long lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2098

You have 74 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.