Our family solicitor has sent a quote for £1350 for no completion no fee conveyancing in Scunthorpe. I’m hoping to sell a purpose built house for £150,000. This seems expensive. Is it in excess of what I should be paying for conveyancing in Scunthorpe?

The quote is fractionally on the steep side. If you shop around you might get the conveyancing a bit cheaper by perhaps a hundred pounds. That being said, you couldcome to rue opting for an an unknown lawyer. If is important to ensure the solicitor can act for your mortgage company. You can employ our search tool to locate a Scunthorpe conveyancing company on the banks approved list of lawyers which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Scunthorpe.

If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Scunthorpe what would it be?

We would encourage you not to base your choice on the cheapest Scunthorpe conveyancing fees. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of time.

Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Scunthorpe. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. How do I make a complaint?

Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are sorted out effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.

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

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for HSBC to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I got the keys to my flat on 6 May and my personal details is yet to be on the land registry website. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Scunthorpe expressed confidence that it should be registered inside ten days. Are transfers in Scunthorpe particularly slow to register?

There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Scunthorpe registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timescales can adjust depending on the party submitting the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry communicate with any interested persons or bodies. Currently roughly three quarters of submission are completed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be protracted hold-ups. Historically registration takes place after the buyer is living at the property therefore an expedited registration is not typically top priority but where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor can speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Scunthorpe conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Scunthorpe conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Scunthorpe conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. The following questions could be helpful:

How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?

Scunthorpe Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

Make sure you discover if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Scunthorpe. If you love the flatin Scunthorpe yet your dog can’t move with you then you have a very hard determination. Where a Scunthorpe lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the value of the property. Check with your lender that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the residence for a couple of years in order to be eligible to extend the lease. The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the lessees have control and although a managing agent is usually employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders.

We own a leasehold flat in Scunthorpe. Conveyancing was completed in last year. I have read on various advice forums that I should not allow the the remaining lease term to get too short. Why is that a problem?

Scunthorpe residential long term leases are for a set period - normally 99 years when they are first granted. However many flats in Scunthorpe were built or converted 25 or more years ago and so such leases now have under eighty years remaining. This may sound like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders tend to need leases to have a minimum of seventy five years remaining to adequate security. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are getting close to eighty years. To enhance the marketability of your property you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Furthermore significant benefits to taking action before the lease hits 80 years as when the lease falls below 80 years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to escalate.