My fiance and I are looking to buy a property in Lea Bridge and are in fact using a Lea Bridge conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Barnsley Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Lea Bridge lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Lea Bridge lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

Is it necessary to pay for insurance to protect me from financial exposure to chancel repairs when buying a house in Lea Bridge?

Unless a prior acquisition of the premises took place post 12 October 2013 you could assume that solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Lea Bridge to continue to advocate a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.

I am selling my house. My former conveyancers has retired. I would be grateful for any recommendation of a conveyancing firm. I happen to live in Lea Bridge if that affects matters.

Please use our search tool to help you choose a solicitor for your conveyancing in Lea Bridge. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with lender approved solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move goes with a minimum of fuss.

My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, yet the selling agent told us that the vendor will only proceed if we use the agent's preferred lawyers as they want a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a local solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in Lea Bridge

It is unlikely the sellers are driving this. Should the vendor require ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine buyer is going to damage their objectives. Avoid the agents and go straight to the sellers and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to instruct your own,trusted Lea Bridge conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will give the negotiator at the agency a commission or meet his conveyancing targets pre-set by HQ.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Lea Bridge conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Lea Bridge conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggest that you make enquires with several firms including non Lea Bridge conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions could be useful:

What are the charges for lease extension work? What volume of lease extensions have they completed in Lea Bridge in the last year?

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Lea Bridge. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

if there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Lea Bridge flat is 104 Nightingale Road in May 2009. The Tribunal's Decision is that the premium torbe paid for the enfranchisement in this case is £112,174 This case related to 10 flats. The unexpired term was 71.25 years.