We are hoping to acquire a 3 bedroom apartment in Torrington with a mortgage. We like our Torrington lawyer, but the bank says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or keep our Torrington lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We feel that this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms 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. Another option that might be available is for your Torrington conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

When it comes to lenders such as Coventry BS, do Torrington property lawyers incur a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?

We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

My wife and I have arranged the release of further monies on our mortgage from HSBC as we intend to carry out renovations to our house in Torrington. Do we need to choose a bricks and mortar Torrington solicitor on the HSBC conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

HSBC would not normally require firms on their conveyancing panel to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the HSBC conveyancing panel.

Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Skipton. Torrington conveyancing lawyers have been selected. How long does it take for Skipton to forward the offer to the lawyer?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have Skipton completed the survey? Have you informed Skipton as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Skipton conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

About to purchase a new build apartment in Torrington. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.

Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Torrington

The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please supply a car parking plan. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier?

I decided to have a survey done on a house in Torrington in advance of instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not grant a loan on a flying freehold home.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Torrington. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Torrington to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Torrington. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Torrington - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I acquired a studio flat in Torrington, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2008. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Torrington with a long lease are worth £176,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2103

With just 79 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.