My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a flat in Swanland and have appointed a Swanland conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Swanland conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Swanland solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

We are about to exchange on the purchase of a house in Swanland but as a result of wreckage from the recent storms I have was able negotiate compensation from the vendor of six thousand pounds taking the form of a adjustment in the price. This was going to be addressed as part of the conveyancing process but Lloyds will not agree to this. Should they have been informed?

The lawyer that is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel is required to inform Lloyds of any variations to the purchase price. If you prohibit your lawyer to notify the price change to Lloyds then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Lloyds and you would have to appoint a new conveyancing practitioner for your conveyancing in Swanland.

Will our conveyancer be raising questions about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Swanland.

Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers dealing with homes in Swanland. Plenty of people will buy a property in Swanland, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.

Conveyancers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a various searches that can be undertaken by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Swanland. The conventional set of information given to a buyer’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard question of the vendor to discover if the property has ever been flooded. If the residence has been flooded in past and is not notified by the owner, then a buyer may issue a claim for damages as a result of such an misleading response. A buyer’s solicitors may also conduct an environmental search. This will reveal if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be initiated.

I have recentlydiscovered that Stirling Law have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Swanland for a purchase of a leasehold flat 10 months ago. How can I establish that my home is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?

The quickest method to check if the premises is in your name, you can carry out 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 Swanland conveyancing specialists.

I wish to let out my leasehold apartment in Swanland. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your previous Swanland conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to seek permission via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Swanland - Examples of Queries before buying

How is the lease structured? How much is the ground rent and service charge? The majority of Swanland leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the landlord. Should you buy the property you will have to meet this amount, normally periodically during the year. This may be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a significant amount, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to check it because on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds.