Recently contacted my conveyancing lawyer in Aston Clinton who completed the legal work 18 months ago requesting a conveyancing costs illustration based on an identical type of home move (a leasehold property and a freehold property) of almost identical values with a loan from Alliance & Leicester . It looks as though am now being charged twice the amount. Am I right to be tempted to shop around for a cheaper online property lawyer?

The estimate does seem a tad steep. If you shop around you could reduce the fees slightly by perhaps £125. On the other hand, providing that you were happy with the legal work the firm gave you mightcome to regret choosing an an untested conveyancer. Don't forget to check that the conveyancer can represent Alliance & Leicester . You can make use of our search tool to get a quote a Aston Clinton conveyancing firm on the Alliance & Leicester member panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Aston Clinton.

I have justdiscovered that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Aston Clinton for a purchase of a leasehold flat 9 months ago. How can I establish that the property is in my name in the name of the former proprietor?

The easiest method to see if the property is registered to you, you can make 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 Aston Clinton conveyancing specialists.

I am buying a new build apartment in Aston Clinton. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Aston Clinton

The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Aston Clinton from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Aston Clinton can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unresolved. A minority of Aston Clinton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. The majority of landlords or Management Companies in Aston Clinton charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Aston Clinton.

Aston Clinton Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying

Many Aston Clinton leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the building set by the management company. Should you buy the apartment you will have to meet this amount, usually periodically throughout the year. This may be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a significant sum, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds. You should be aware that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will affect the value of the property. Check with your bank that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would be be obliged to have owned the premises for two years before you are legally able to extend the lease. Does this lease have in excess of 80 years unexpired?

Finally our conveyancing in Aston Clinton is completing this Friday, yet the people I am purchasing from wants to vacate on the Saturday at 2pm. Should I agree to such a idea?

It is not possible to complete on a Saturday due to the bank systems are not working.