As someone clueless as to conveyancing in Keswick what is the number one tip you can give me concerning the home moving process in Keswick

Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Keswick or throughout Cumbria is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is plenty of room for conflict between you and other parties involved in the transaction. E.g., the vendor, selling agent and even potentially the lender. Choosing a law firm for your conveyancing in Keswick an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the transaction whose interest is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.

Every so often a potential adversary will attempt to sway you that it is in your interests to do things their way. For example, the estate agent may claim to be assisting by suggesting your lawyer is dragging his heels. Or your mortgage broker may tell you to do something that is contrary to your conveyancers advice. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

I happen to be the only beneficiary of my late mum's will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Keswick. The Keswick property was put into my name in August. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in August. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The CML handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you may be impacted by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the lender as this requirement is chiefly there to pick up on subsales or the quick reselling of property.

I have paid off my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Keswick conveyancing practitioner on the UBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your UBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so

Santander have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a apartment in Keswick has been agreed to, what happens next?

The property agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the bank’s panel). Call up Santander or the broker and complete any outstanding documentation. Santander will appoint a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or seller to schedule an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes on average a week to get a mortgage offer. Santander will send the offer to you and your conveyancers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Keswick.

My colleague advised me that if I am buying in Keswick I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Keswick conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Keswick around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Keswick Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Keswick Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Keswick.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in Keswick I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Keswick in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Keswick conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Keswick conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggest that you speak with two or three firms including non Keswick conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions might be of use:

How many lease extensions have they carried out in Keswick in the last year? If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

I acquired a 1st floor flat in Keswick, conveyancing was carried out in 2008. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Keswick with over 90 years remaining are worth £175,000. The ground rent is £65 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2083

With 58 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £23,800 and £27,400 plus costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.