We are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in St Annes with a mortgage. We like our St Annes lawyer, however the bank advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or keep our St Annes conveyancer as well as pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. We regard this is inequitable; are we not able to demand that the lender use our St Annes solicitor ?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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 Annes conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

I have a decision in principle. The bank mentioned the loan came with free conveyancing. Is the implication that I have to instruct their panel lawyer as I would much rather appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in St Annes?

Do check but the chances are that allocate you one of their panel lawyers should you accept the "fee-free" deal. Speak to the bank to determine if they allow a monetary alternative. In the past a few lenders offered a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case you could put that amount towards your preferred conveyancing solicitor in St Annes.

I am assisting my niece sell her property in St Annes. Will the solicitor arrange the energy performance certificate or it is for the seller to coordinate?

After the demise of HIPs, energy performance certificates was maintained a required component of moving house. An EPC must be to hand prior to the property being advertised. It is not something that conveyancers normally organise. If you are instructing a St Annes conveyancing lawyer they may be willing to arrange energy assessments due to their contacts with long established local providers

A colleague advised me that in buying a property in St Annes there may be various restrictions prohibiting external alterations to a property. Is this right?

There are anumerous of properties in St Annes which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in St Annes should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

My partner and I have organised a further advance on our mortgage from Aldermore as we intend to conduct improvements to our house in St Annes. Do we need to choose a high street St Annes solicitor on the Aldermore conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

Aldermore would not normally instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Aldermore panel.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in St Annes. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.

Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in St Annes

The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in St Annes. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I inherited a leasehold flat in St Annes, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2011. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in St Annes with an extended lease are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2094

With 69 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.