As someone clueless as to conveyancing in Chathill what is your top tip you can give me for the legal transfer of property in Chathill

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Chathill and elsewhere in Northumberland is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for conflict between you and other parties involved in the house moving process. For instance, the vendor, estate agent and sometimes a bank. Selecting a solicitor for your conveyancing in Chathill is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY party in the transaction whose responsibility is to protect your legal interests and to keep you safe.

We are witnessing a definite ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be blamed for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor ahead of the other players in the home moving process.

My fiance and I decided to purchase a newbuild apartment in Chathill with a residential mortgage from Barnsley Building Society.We use our Chathill conveyancing solicitor but Barnsley Building Society informed us her practice is not listed on their "panel". It seems we have no choice but to instruct a Barnsley Building Society panel solicitor or keep our preferred solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Barnsley Building Society use our lawyer?

No, not really. The loan issued to you is subject to its terms and conditions, a common one being that solicitors needs to be on the Barnsley Building Society conveyancing panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Barnsley Building Society

How does conveyancing in Chathill differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build premises in Chathill approach us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is completed. This is because builders in Chathill typically purchase the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Chathill or who has acted in the same development.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Chathill is the location of the property. Can you offer any assistance?

Flying freeholds in Chathill are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Chathill you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Chathill may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

I work for a long established estate agency in Chathill where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Chathill conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

Chathill Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

Be sure to find out if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example it is very common in Chathill leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Chathill. If you love the propertyin Chathill however your cat can’t move with you then you have a very difficult choice. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? This question is important as a) areas may result in problems in the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will need to have all the details