Much to our surprise we have been notified by our mortgage broker that my Ryton solicitor is not on the bank Solicitor panel. How can I be certain that this is indeed the case?

You need to call your Ryton conveyancer. You lawyer should advise you what has happened. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Ryton conveyancing firm that is on the approved list of lawyers for your lender.

What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Ryton? Is this really warranted?

It is indeed that case that these requests have nothing to do with conveyancing in Ryton. However these days you can not complete any conveyancing deal in the absence providing proof of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence as well as a council tax bill. Please note that if you are supplying your driving licence as proof of ID it needs to be both the paper part as well as the photo card part, one is not satisfactory in the absence of the other.

Evidence of the origin of money is mandated in accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations. Don’t be offended when when this is requested of you as your conveyancer must have this information on file. Your Ryton conveyancing solicitor will need to see evidence of proof of funds prior to accepting any monies from you into their client account and they may also ask further queries concerning the source of funds.

I have justbeen informed that Action Conveyancing have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Ryton for a purchase of a freehold house 12 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is in my name in the name of the former proprietor?

The easiest way to check if the property 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 Ryton conveyancing specialists.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in Ryton I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Ryton suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £175,000 flat in Ryton on Friday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Ryton?

Ryton conveyancing on leasehold flats often requires the purchaser’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries most will be content to do so. They are entitled to charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Ryton, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Ryton with over 90 years remaining are worth £211,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2093

With 67 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered 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 without first getting professional advice.