We were just about to sign contracts for a garden flat in Sedgefield. We encountered a problem. Our mortgage offer with Platform Home Loans Ltd expires on 13/9/2024 but the owners are putting forward a completion date of 17/9/2024. Is it possible to prolong the loan expiry date?

The person best placed to address this concern is your conveyancer who will hopefully determine if they corresponding with the mortgage company, owner’s solicitors, estate agents or possibly all parties taking into account what has happend in your conveyancing to date.

It is a dozen years since I purchased my house in Sedgefield. Conveyancing lawyers have now been retained on the sale but I am unable to find my deeds. Is this a problem?

You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be kept by the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the conveyancers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the title will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring up to date copy of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Sedgefield involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is not registered it is more tricky but is resolvable.

I have been on the look out for a flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Sedgefield I like with a park and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Sedgefield in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be an issue. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.

Is it possible to switch solicitor as I have to retain one who is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing list. I had appointed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Sedgefield five minutes from me but the firm is not approved by Bank of Ireland

It would be our pleasure to help you find a conveyancing solicitor in Sedgefield on the Bank of Ireland panel. Please note that the law firms that we on the directory do not pay us a referral fee if you instruct them and are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Sedgefield. Using search facility on this website, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Sedgefield.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in Sedgefield. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Sedgefield who previously acted has now retired. What should I do?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Sedgefield conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Sedgefield, conveyancing formalities finalised 3 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Sedgefield with over 90 years remaining are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2091

With just 67 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.