we are a couple who are buying a newly converted apartment in The Park with a mortgage from Britannia.We would like to retain our The Park conveyancing practitioner but Britannia advised that she’s not listed on their approved list of firms. We have to appoint a Britannia panel solicitor or keep our high street solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Britannia use our lawyer?

No, not really. The loan offered to you contains terms and conditions, a common one being that solicitors must be on the Britannia solicitor panel. in the past, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find 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 solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Britannia

Do commercial conveyancing searches reveal planned roadworks that may impact a commercial property in The Park?

Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in The Park will carry out a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers spend in sourcing accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in The Park. The search result provides definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in The Park.

For every commercial conveyancing transaction in The Park it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately could cause delays to The Park commercial conveyancing deals as well as present a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not carried out for domestic conveyancing in The Park.

I have justbecome aware that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in The Park for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 9 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is in my name in the name of the previous owner?

The easiest method to see if the premises is registered to you, 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 The Park conveyancing specialists.

I am buying my first flat in The Park with a loan from Halifax. The sellers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about the extras as it may affect my loan with Halifax. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I work for a long established estate agent office in The Park where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local The Park conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

I acquired a 1st floor flat in The Park, conveyancing formalities finalised 7 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in The Park with a long lease are worth £211,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2093

With just 68 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.