Recently been in touch with my conveyancing lawyer in Stocksbridge who conducted the legals two years ago and wanted a conveyancing costs illustration based on the same type of house sale & purchase (a leasehold residence and a freehold property) of almost identical values with a mortgage from Bank of Scotland. I am now being quoted twice the amount. Should I hunt for a cheaper online firm of conveyancing solicitor?

The charges are a tad high. If you you were to look around you could trim some of the expense by perhaps £125. That being said, assuming were content with the conveyancing the firm offered you maycome to rue opting for an an unknown solicitor. Remember to enquire the conveyancer can act for Bank of Scotland. You can utilise our search tool to locate a Stocksbridge conveyancing firm on the Bank of Scotland member panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Stocksbridge.

I used Wolstenholmes several years past for my conveyancing in Stocksbridge. I now require my papers however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Stocksbridge of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I opted to have a survey completed on a property in Stocksbridge in advance of retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor has said that some lenders may refuse to issue a mortgage on such a property.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different instructions from Halifax. 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 Stocksbridge. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Stocksbridge especially if they are familiar with such properties in Stocksbridge.

I have been pointed in your direction by a couple of local selling agents in Stocksbridge to find a property lawyer on your site. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to offer your services over a competitor’s?

We refuse to offer any commission for sending work in our direction. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

I own a leasehold flat in Stocksbridge. Conveyancing and Chelsea Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Stocksbridge who previously acted has now retired. Do I pay?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Stocksbridge conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Stocksbridge Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Best to be warned if redecorating or some other significant cost is coming up to be shared between the tenants and will materially impact the level of the maintenance costs or require a one off invoice. Plenty Stocksbridge leasehold flats will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building set on behalf of the landlord. Where you buy the flat you will have to meet this contribution, usually periodically accross the year. This may be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, normally this is not a exorbitant sum, say around £25-£75 but you need to check it because on occasion it could be prohibitively expensive. The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders enjoy control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually employed where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.