Is the fact that my solicitor in Holton le Clay is not on my mortgage company's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the quality of his work?

That would most likely be an incorrect assumption to make. There are plenty of plausible explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator revealed 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Where you are concerned you should contact the Holton le Clay conveyancing practice and enquire why they are no longer on the approved list for your bank.

Please explain the implications if my solicitor is expelled from the RBS Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Holton le Clay?

The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.

When it comes to lenders such as Principality, do Holton le Clay conveyancers have to pay a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are not aware of any lender fees to register on their panel, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.

I have a mortgage with Skipton for my property in Holton le Clay. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Skipton?

You must advise Skipton in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Skipton’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Skipton will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Skipton directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Skipton conveyancing panel solicitor.

After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Holton le Clay. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £175. A couple of days later, the conveyancer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Leeds Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

What makes a Holton le Clay lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Holton le Clay is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party. A duty to insure the building

You may have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, Coventry Building Society, and Clydesdale all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

I inherited a studio flat in Holton le Clay, conveyancing having been completed December 2007. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable flats in Holton le Clay with a long lease are worth £221,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2095

With only 70 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

I am due to assess costs for conveyancing in Holton le Clay from three conveyancer and appoint one. Am I right to ask them to sit tight until I have found somewhere to purchase.

We suggest that you only request your conveyancing practitioner to start work and order searches once the sales memo has been issued by the selling agent particularly as Holton le Clay conveyancing searches are a couple of hundred pounds.