Can you help - my lawyer advises that restrictive coveneant insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Dunstable?

The right level of restrictive coveneant indemnity insurance depends on who your lender is. It would differ for example between Barclays and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.

My wife and I have arranged a further advance on our home loan from TSB as we intend to conduct improvements to our property in Dunstable. Do we need to appoint a high street Dunstable solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

TSB do not ordinarily instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the TSB list.

I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Dunstable solicitor - who is on the RBS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?

RBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually RBS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Dunstable surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

The deeds to our property can not be found. The conveyancers who conducted the conveyancing in Dunstable 5 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?

Assuming you have a registered title the information relating to your proprietorship will be recorded by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is possible to conduct a search at the Land Registry, locate your house and obtain current copies of the property title for less than a fiver. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a certified duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for a small fee.

I am looking for a conveyancing solicitor in Dunstable for my house move. Is there any facility to check a firm’s complaints history with the profession’s regulator?

Members of the public may find presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from investigations commenced on or after 1 January 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may monitor call for training requirements.

What makes a Dunstable lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Dunstable is not unique. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Dunstable Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

What is the service charge and ground rent on the flat? Please note if it is less than 80 years it will impact the value of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the residence for a couple of years in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension.

Do I need to pop into the offices of the lender conveyancing panel solicitor to execute the mortgage deed? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Dunstable so that I can attend their offices if required.

Whereas this was necessary ten years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Dunstable.