My wife and I are looking to buy a flat in Salisbury and are in fact using a Salisbury conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Santander have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Salisbury conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage 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 lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Salisbury lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Do commercial conveyancing searches reveal proposed roadworks that could affect a commercial property in Salisbury?

Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in Salisbury will carry out a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers spend in sourcing accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Salisbury. The search result sets out definitive information on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Salisbury.

For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Salisbury it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. Failure to identify developments where adoption procedures have not been addressed adequately may result in delays to Salisbury commercial conveyancing transactions as well as present a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not carried out for residential conveyancing in Salisbury.

How does conveyancing in Salisbury differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build property in Salisbury contact us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is finished. This is because developers in Salisbury tend to acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Salisbury or who has acted in the same development.

Is it best to use a Salisbury conveyancing lawyer who is local to the property I am hoping to buy? We have a good friend who can conduct the legal work however her office is 400kilometers drive away.

The primary upside of using a local Salisbury conveyancing firm is that you can visit the firm to sign documents, present your ID and pester them if necessary. Having local Salisbury know how is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If if people you trust instructed your friend and they were happy that should trump using an unfamiliar Salisbury conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being local.

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Salisbury. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is discharge the maintenance contribution as you normally would given that all rents and maintenance invoices will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Salisbury Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

Be sure to investigate if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Salisbury. If you love the propertyin Salisbury yet your cat can’t move with you then you will be faced hard choice. Does the lease include onerous restrictions? Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that will increase the maintenance charges?