My partner and I are hoping to buy a flat in Barnsbury and are in fact using a Barnsbury conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Barnsbury solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?

If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Barnsbury solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Completed the sale of my flat in Barnsbury last June yet the purchaser is calling me to say their solicitor is waiting to hear from mylawyer. What should my lawyer have done following completion?

Following your disposal your lawyer is committed to forward the transfer deeds and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. Depending on the transaction, your lawyer must also confirm that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been repaid to the buyers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion requirements specific conveyancing in Barnsbury.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my home can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Barnsbury 4 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?

Gone are the days when you need to hold title deeds to prove you are the registered proprietor of land or property, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.

I am a sole trader planning to take over a lease of a shop on the high street. Can you recommend solicitors offering no-sale-no costs for commercial conveyancing in Barnsbury for under 2k?

We can recommend firms who host a wealth of experience of commercial conveyancing in Barnsbury, including the disposal and acquisition of businesses as well as simply premises. Whether you are hoping to buy or dispose of a shop, pub, restaurant, office, retail premises or a complete business we can find you the right lawyer. Regarding the fees these will vary based on the structure and complexity of the deal. Please provide us with your contact information or email us so that we may furnish you with a detailed commercial conveyancing quote.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Barnsbury both have about fifty years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Barnsbury. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease deteriorates and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field.

I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Barnsbury, conveyancing formalities finalised 3 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Barnsbury with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 50

You have 50 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £36,100 and £41,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.