We are purchasing a property and need a conveyancing solicitor in Wilford who is on the Leeds Building Society solicitor panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Leeds Building Society . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Wilford.

My wife and I own a terraced Edwardian house in Wilford. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Wilford and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who completed the work.

I opted to have a survey done on a property in Wilford ahead of retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor has said that some banks may not issue a mortgage on this type of house.

It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Halifax. If you call us we can check via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Wilford. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

Taking into account that I am about to spend over three hundred thousand on a garden flat in Wilford I wish to have a conversation with the lawyer concerning theconveyancing in advance of giving the go ahead to the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?

We could not agree more - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the conveyancer due to be doing your conveyancing in Wilford.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is unique person, not a file number. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are quoted for residential conveyancing in Wilford should be the amount on the final invoice that you end up paying.

I work for a busy estate agent office in Wilford where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Wilford conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Wilford - Sample of Queries before buying

Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that will add a premium to the maintenance charges? Be sure to investigate if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Wilford. If you like the apartmentin Wilford yet your cat can’t move with you then you will be faced hard determination.