Me and my partner are acquiring our first property. Our solicitor has e-mailedto enquire if we wish to order supplemental conveyancing searches. Frankly we have no idea as to what's recommended for conveyancing in St Annes Park

The quantity and type of St Annes Park conveyancing searches depends primarily on the premises, the location, the likelihood of any of these risks, your knowledge of the locality and risks, your overall appetite to risk. What is important is that you properly understand what information the searches could give you. Then you can decide if you consider that you need that information. Should you be in doubt, ask the conveyancing practitioner to recommend.

We note that you have a search directory listing firms on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a referral fee if I retain them for our own conveyancing in St Annes Park?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in St Annes Park.

My husband and I wish to acquire a newbuild flat in St Annes Park with a mortgage from The Mortgage Works.We like our St Annes Park conveyancing practitioner but The Mortgage Works says her practice is not on their approved list of firms. It seems we are left with no choice but to instruct a The Mortgage Works panel firm or keep our local solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that The Mortgage Works use our lawyer?

No, not really. The mortgage issued to you is subject to its various provisions, one of which will be that lawyers needs to be on the The Mortgage Works solicitor panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of solicitors 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 lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for The Mortgage Works

I just acquired a flat at auction in St Annes Park. Conveyancing is necessary. What is next?

Having to all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you will need to appoint a conveyancing practitioner soon as you will have a pending a drop dead date to complete the deal. All auction property will have a corresponding legal set of papers. This will likely include evidence of title and search results. If you have purchased leasehold premises the legal pack should contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork pertinent to leasehold premises. You must pass this on to the solicitor instructed by you ASAP. Do make sure that you have funds in order to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as FTB of a two bedroom flat in St Annes Park. Do I collect the keys to the property on the completion date from my lawyer? If so, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in St Annes Park?

On the day of completion you do not need to go to the conveyancers office in St Annes Park. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be called to collect the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in St Annes Park. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Soon after, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Co-operative panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in St Annes Park. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

What remedies are open the freeholder should you are in breach of your lease terms? It needs to be made clear to you if the lease permits you to change or upgrade anything in the flat- you should be made aware as to whether it applies to all alterations or limited to structural alteration, and whether permission is mandated necessary Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring? Information concerning the obligations as set out in the lease to to contribute towards maintenance costs - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a tenant has if lease has a provision for a slush fund?

St Annes Park Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in St Annes Park require leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for major repairs or maintenance. Its a good idea to discover as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you are often in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day matters like the tidiness of the common parts. Don't be afraid to ask prospective neighbours if they are happy with their management. Finally, investigate as to the dates that the service charges are due to the managing agents and specifically what it includes. The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually retained if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.