My wife and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Tamworth and are in fact using a Tamworth conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Tamworth solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional 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 lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Tamworth solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

We are expecting a mortgage offer soon. The lender mentioned the home loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to instruct their panel lawyer as I would prefer to instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Tamworth?

You should check but the the probability is that allocate you one of their panel conveyancers should you want the "fee-free" deal. Call the bank to see if they offer you a monetary alternative. Some banks have previously offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case you could put that amount towards your preferred conveyancing solicitor near Tamworth.

We are purchasing a end of terrace house in Tamworth. Our aim is to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will the conveyancing process involve checks to see if these works are prohibited?

Your property lawyer will review the deeds as conveyancing in Tamworth will on occasion reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit categories of changes or need the permission of a 3rd party. Certain additions require local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Some areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or affect extensions. It would be wise to check these issues with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.

I happen to be the sole recipient of my late mum's will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Tamworth. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be regarded the same way as if I'd bought the property in December. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The CML handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be affected by that. many mortgage companies would take a pragmatic view as this clause is chiefly there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of property.

About to purchase house in Tamworth. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Tamworth conveyancing practitioner is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.

A colleague recommended that if I am purchasing in Tamworth I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your Tamworth conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Tamworth around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Tamworth Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Tamworth Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Tamworth.

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Tamworth where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Tamworth conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Tamworth Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Does the lease include onerous restrictions? This information is helpful as a) areas can result in problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will need to know about it Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments?