I am expecting a mortgage with Halifax. My intention is to enlist the help of a Licensed Conveyancer in Willenhall. Does the Halifax Solicitor panel allow for Licensed Conveyancers?

The Halifax conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders, represented by the Council or Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

The owners have very pushy vendors who has insisted on a preliminary agreement with a deposit 6,000. Are such agreements promoted for Willenhall conveyancing transactions?

This kind of preliminary agreement is not the norm in Willenhall, conveyancers will often sway clients away from them as they detract from focusing on the primary focus, namely conveyancing and if you end up having your deposit forfeited then the lawyer is left exposed. Secondly, there is no guarantee that just because the vendor has signed an exclusivity agreement they will sell to you. They may breach the agreement if they are offered sufficient offer to do so because a wronged claimant with the benefit of a exclusivitycontract will still have to establish consequential losses from the breach and this may not amount to the financial upside that the owner may obtain by reneging on the agreement, no matter how morally unworthy that may be.

We're in Willenhall, FTBs purchasing with a mortgage (lender is HSBC , and our lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no solicitor should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

I am buying a new build house in Willenhall with a loan from Godiva Mortgages Ltd. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent advised me not disclose to my solicitor about this side-deal as it could put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.

There are only Sixty One years left on my flat in Willenhall. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Willenhall.

I bought a 1st floor flat in Willenhall, conveyancing having been completed August 1999. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable properties in Willenhall with over 90 years remaining are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2092

With only 68 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £9,500 and £11,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should 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.