I am in the throes of transferring my current homeowner loan to a Buy to Let TSB mortgage. The bank has said that I must appoint a solicitor for this. I spoke to my past Wilmslow conveyancing firm who acted on my behalf when I first bought the property. The costs illustration issued of £500 has shocked me as its a remortgage than a sale or purchase.

The estimate does seem a tad on the high side. If you shop around you could get the conveyancing a bit cheaper by as much as £100 plus VAT. On the other hand, if you were happy with the assistance the firm gave you mightlive to regret choosing an an untested lawyer. Don't forget to be sure the conveyancer can also act for TSB. You can use our search tool to find a Wilmslow conveyancing firm on the TSB approved list of lawyers, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Wilmslow.

Are all Wilmslow Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel?

It is true that some lenders now utilise the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to remain on their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.

After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Wilmslow. My mortgage broker suggested a property lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £200. A couple of days later, the conveyancer contacted me to say that they were not on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the HSBC panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

At last I have had an offer on a maisonette in Wilmslow agreed to, the owners do however have a tied purchase. The owners have offered on somewhere, however it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other flats booked. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Wilmslow. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with Nationwide started?

It is understandable to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, Wilmslow conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you must ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. As to the next steps this very much depends on the specifics of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market some home buyers will apply for a home loan with Nationwide and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they pay their property lawyer to proceed with the conveyancing in Wilmslow.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Wilmslow I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Wilmslow for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.

I was recommended by a number of estate agents in Wilmslow to choose a conveyancer using your seach tool. What’s the financial upside for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers over and above alternative conveyancing organisations?

We don’t make any referral fee for sending work our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold flat in Wilmslow. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Wilmslow who previously acted has now retired. What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Wilmslow conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I own a 2 bed flat in Wilmslow, conveyancing having been completed April 2012. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent properties in Wilmslow with a long lease are worth £206,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2088

You have 65 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £13,300 and £15,400 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns 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 based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.