My husband and I are hoping to purchase a property in Llanfairfechan and are in fact using a Llanfairfechan conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. National Westminster Bank have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Llanfairfechan lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors 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 lender 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Llanfairfechan lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

We were just about to exchange contracts for a semi detached house in Llanfairfechan. We encountered a stumbling block. The mortgage offer with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society expires on 5/11/2025 but the owners are putting forward a completion date of 7/11/2025. Is it possible to prolong the mortgage expiry date?

The person best placed to deal with your question is your conveyancer who is in a position to determine whether they corresponding with the mortgage broker, seller’s representatives, selling agents or indeed all three given the circumstances your conveyancing to date.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Llanfairfechan I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Llanfairfechan in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.

My brother has recommend that I instruct his lawyers for conveyancing in Llanfairfechan. Should I find my own solicitor?

There are no two ways about it the best way to choose a conveyancing solicitor is to have recommendations from friends or family who have experience in using the conveyancer you're are thinking of instructing.

We are in the throes of selling our flat in Llanfairfechan. Conveyancing solicitors are doing their job but we have been asked to pay an extortionate amount by the managing agents. So far we have paid £250 for a leasehold management pack and then a further £200 plus VAT for answers to questions supplied by the buyers conveyancer.

You will not have any say over the level of the charges for this information however the average fee for the information for Llanfairfechan leasehold premises is £350. For Llanfairfechan conveyancing deals it is standard for the seller to cover the costs. The landlord or their agents are under no statutory obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices out of proportion to the work involved. Regretfully there is no legislation that mandates capped charges for administrative tasks. There is no set time frame by which they are duty bound to provide the information.