After what seems like an age a mortgage offer from HSBC for the refinancing of my 3 bedroom apartment is to be issued any day now. Are you able to recommend a low cost conveyancing practitioner in Yate?

This site is not designed to assist those in their quest for cut-price fees for conveyancing solicitors in Yate. Our aim is to provide cost effective conveyancing but we do not work with the cheapest lawyers. Do not be seduced by brokers offering £99 conveyancing in Yate. At best, in choosing a lawyer for cheap conveyancing, you will get your money’s worth and at worst it will result in you with a surprising uplift in additional fees and still not receive the service expected.

Can your site be used to recommend a Conveyancing solicitor in Yate even where I’m not buying or disposing of a house, for instance where I intend to acquire an office in Yate with a loan from Norwich and Peterborough Building Society?

Our comparison service is primarily used to get a quote from domestic conveyancing solicitors in Yate but we have set out towards the bottom of this page a selection of Yate commercial conveyancing firms. You should speak with the firm directly to see if they are also authorised to represent Norwich and Peterborough Building Society

I decided to have a survey done on a house in Yate before appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. Our surveyor advised that some lenders tend not grant a loan on this type of house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Yate. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Yate to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Yate where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Yate conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Yate Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

Please note that where the lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have been the owner of the property for a couple of years in order to be eligible to exercise a lease extension. It is important to be aware whether a new roof is being put on or some other major work is due shortly that will be shared by the leasehold owners and will materially increase the the maintenance costs or result in a specific payment. Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the building?

Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the bank approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?

Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the lender conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the mortgage company solicitor panel.