My wife and I are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in St Agnes with a mortgage. We would like to retain our St Agnes conveyancer, however the lender says he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to use one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or continue with our St Agnes and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; are we not able to insist that the lender use our St Agnes ?

Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your St Agnes conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

Due to complete my purchase in St Agnes next Monday. My now wants me to supply her with evidence of content and building insurance for the property as as she informs me that she is duty bound to validate that it is in order for the lender. What does the insurance need to cover?

All property lawyers on acting for lenders would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s Part 2 conditions. These obligations are not unique to conveyancing in St Agnes.

I have todayfound out that Stirling Law have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in St Agnes for a purchase of a leasehold flat 12 months ago. How can I check that the property is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?

The easiest way to see if the premises is in your name, you can make 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 St Agnes conveyancing specialists.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. St Agnes is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in St Agnes are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside St Agnes you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St Agnes may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

St Agnes Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Is anyone aware of any major works anticipated that will likely increase the service charges? The answer will be useful as a) areas can result in problems for the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have a dispute with the managing agents you will want to have all the details If a St Agnes lease has no more than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the value of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering what this would cost. For most St Agneslease extensions you will need to own the residence for a couple of years in order to be entitled to exercise a lease extension.