Much to our surprise we have been advised by our mortgage adviser that my Victoria Docks property lawyer is not on the mortgage company Solicitor panel. How can I be sure if this is correct?

The sensible course of action for you to take is to contact your Victoria Docks conveyancer. You lawyer should advise you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they may recommend you to a Victoria Docks conveyancing firm that is on the approved list of lawyers for your bank.

I am assisting my step-mother sell her property in Victoria Docks. Will the conveyancer arrange an EPC or do I organise this?

Following the abolition of Home Packs, energy assessments became a compulsory part of selling a house. An EPC must be commissioned before the property is marketed. This is not as aspect of the sale process that law firms normally arrange. Where you are using a Victoria Docks conveyancing lawyer they may be willing to arrange energy performance certificates given their contacts with long established local energy assessors

We have agreed to purchase a house in Victoria Docks. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Nationwide have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As your lender is Nationwide your lawyer must check the conveyancing instructions contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Nationwide. The CML Handbook includes minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to Nationwide where a lease does not satisfy these conditions. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Victoria Docks.

UBS have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a house in Victoria Docks has been accepted, what are the next steps?

Your estate agent will wish to be advised as to your conveyancer's details (ensure that the conveyancers are on the bank’s approved list). Contact UBS or the broker and finalise any appropriate documentation. UBS will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or seller to book a time for the valuation to occur. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about a week to get a mortgage offer. UBS will send the offer to you and your conveyancers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Victoria Docks.

I am buying a property and the lawyer has raised the issue of Chancel Repair for which the house could be obligated to pay given it’s proximity to the area of such a church. He has mentioned insurance. Is this really warranted for conveyancing in Victoria Docks

Unless a previous acquisition of the premises completed after 12 October 2013 you could expect solicitors conducting conveyancing in Victoria Docks to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Victoria Docks benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not reveal to my solicitor about this extras as it may impact my loan with the lender. 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 reputable estate agent office in Victoria Docks where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Victoria Docks conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

Following months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Victoria Docks. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Victoria Docks conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Victoria Docks premises is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 69.77 years.