My stepmother advised me that in buying a property in Wedmore there could be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to the property. Is this right?

There are a number of properties in Wedmore which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Wedmore should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

Can I be sure that the Wedmore conveyancing solicitor on the Skipton panel is any good?

When it comes to conveyancing in Wedmore getting recommendations is a sensible starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always recommend that you speak with the lawyer conducting your transaction.

My partner and I have arranged a further advance on our home loan from Nottingham as we want to carry out a loft conversion to our house in Wedmore. Do we need to choose a local Wedmore solicitor on the Nottingham conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

Nottingham do not ordinarily instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Nottingham conveyancing panel.

I have recentlyfound out that Wolstenholmes have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Wedmore for a purchase of a freehold house 9 months ago. How can I check that my home is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?

The quickest method to see if the property 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 Wedmore conveyancing specialists.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Wedmore is where the house is located. Can you offer any opinion?

Flying freeholds in Wedmore are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Wedmore you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Wedmore may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Wedmore. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Wedmore - 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Wedmore - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

The answer will be useful as a) areas could cause problems in the block as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where maintenance remain unpaid b) if the tenants have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to have all the details How is the lease structured? Most Wedmore leasehold apartments will have a service charge for maintenance of the building levied by the freeholder. Should you acquire the property you will have to meet this liability, usually in instalments during the year. This could vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. There will also be a rentcharge to be met yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say around £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds.

My son is about to join the property ladder, he had his mortgage in principle. When the seller agreed the offer on the house we contacted the mortgage institution to issue the formal offer. We were disappointed to discover that mortgage companies do not accept all lawyer, they must be on their panel, is this correct?

Banks normally imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Wedmore property lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Unlikely.