My wife and I are looking to buy a home in St Andrews and are in fact using a St Andrews conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Nationwide Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our St Andrews conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?

Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred St Andrews lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Will commercial conveyancing searches disclose impending roadworks that could affect a commercial premises in St Andrews?

Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in St Andrews will order a SiteSolutions Highways report as it reduces the time that conveyancers invest in investigating accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in St Andrews. The report provides 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 St Andrews.

For every commercial conveyancing transaction in St Andrews it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been addressed adequately could result in delays to St Andrews commercial conveyancing transactions as well as present a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not ordered for residential conveyancing in St Andrews.

I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing practitioner in St Andrews for my home move. Can I review a firm’s record with the legal regulator?

Members of the public can search for documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find details about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, ring 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. International callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA sometimes recorded telephone calls for training purposes.

I am hoping to complete next month on a leasehold property in St Andrews. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in St Andrews should include some of the following:

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice? Repair and maintenance of the premises Additions to the property You should know if the lease permits you to add or improve aspects of the property- you must know whether any restrictions applies to all alterations or limited to structural alteration, and whether licences for alterations is mandated necessary You need to be informed what is to be regarded as a Nuisance as far as the lease is concerned

Leasehold Conveyancing in St Andrews - Sample of Queries before buying

Who is in charge of the building? Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? How much is the ground rent and service charge?

I own a leasehold flat in St Andrews. Conveyancing was finished in five years ago. I have read on numerous consumer forums that I mustn’t allow the the remaining lease term to get too low. Is this correct?

St Andrews domestic long term leases are for a prescribed period - normally ninety nine years when they commenced. However many appartments in St Andrews were constructed or converted in the 70’s80’s and so such leases now have under 80 years left to run. That may seem like a long time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders on the whole need leases to have at least 75 years left to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are nearing eighty years. To maximise the saleability of your property you should be considering whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. You should note that there are strong financial reasons to taking action before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease is less than 80 years the amount to be paid to extend starts to escalate.