The owners have very brash sellers who has suggested a preliminary agreement with a payment 10k. Are such agreements sensible?

There are a couple of primary drawbacks with executing a lock out contract (occasionally known as an exclusivity agreement) is that it takes away the focus from progressing with the conveyancing transaction itself, so unless it requires limited or no negotiation then it could turn out to be unhelpful. It is not particularly popular amongst Sileby conveyancing lawyers as a result. The other main negative is the extent of the remedies available - an aggrieved buyer should not expect to be granted an injunction to stop the vendor disposing of the property to another buyer, so the only remedy open via the agreement will be the reimbursement of abortive charges and, in rare circumstances, the extra payment of damages.

I am assisting my niece sell her property in Sileby. Will the solicitor arrange an EPC or it is for the seller to see to?

Following the demise of Home Packs, energy performance certificates became a mandatory component of selling a house. An EPC must be to hand before the property is marketed. It is not a task that lawyers ordinarily organise. Where you are using a Sileby conveyancing practitioner they might be able to arrange energy performance certificates given their relationships with long established local providers

The mortgage over my property is with Virgin Money for my property in Sileby. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Virgin Money?

You must advise Virgin Money before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Virgin Money’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Virgin Money directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Virgin Money conveyancing panel lawyer.

I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Sileby solicitor - who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?

Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your solicitor will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Sileby postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Sileby.

Just bought a semi-detached house in Sileby , What is the estimated time for the Land Registry to register my title? My Sileby conveyancing solicitor works at snail pace, so I want to check that my purchase is recorded.

There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Sileby registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timeframes can vary according to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry need to notify any interested parties. At present approximately three quarters of such applications are completed within two weeks but occasionally there can be longer delays. Registration is effected once the new owner is living at the premises so 'speed' is not typically an essential issue but where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your lawyers could communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.

I decided to have a survey completed on a property in Sileby prior to appointing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor advised that some lenders will not issue a mortgage on a flying freehold property.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can check with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Sileby. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Sileby to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.

Fiveweeks into purchasing a residence in Sileby. Conveyancing lawyer has told us the title is "Leasehold". Should this impact the salability of the house?

Sileby conveyancing does not ordinarily involve leasehold houses. The crucial consideration here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If there are over a hundred years remaining with a nominal rent, it's virtually freehold, so it’s unlikely to impact the value too much.

At the other end of the spectrum, if it's, say, fifty five years it is bound to have a significant impact on the saleability, and probably wouldn't be acceptable to the mortgage company. The length of lease and ground rent will be stated in the lease provided to your lawyer.