My partner and I are approaching an exchange on a property in Lytham St Annes and my mum and dad have sent the 10% deposit to my conveyancing practitioner. I am now advised that as the deposit has not arrived from me my property lawyer needs to make a notification to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the mortgage company he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I disclosed to the mortgage company concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really necessary for this now to hold matters up?

Your property lawyer is obliged to check with mortgage company to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only disclose this to your bank if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

We're in Lytham St Annes, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Yorkshire BS , and our solicitor is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no property lawyer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Lytham St Annes I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Lytham St Annes in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?

If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.

Am I better off to choose a Lytham St Annes conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am buying? We have a good friend who can deal with the legal formalities however her office is 400miles drive away.

The benefit of a high street Lytham St Annes conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to sign paperwork, hand in your ID and pester them where appropriate. Having local Lytham St Annes know how is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust used your friend and the majority were impressed that should outweigh using an unfamiliar Lytham St Annes conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Lytham St Annes based.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Lytham St Annes where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Lytham St Annes conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

Lytham St Annes Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Best to be warned whether changing the roof or some other major work is coming up to be shared amongst the leaseholders and will dramatically increase the the service charges or result in a specific payment. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? It would be a good idea to discover if the the lease includes any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Lytham St Annes. If you love the propertyin Lytham St Annes however your dog is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be presented with a hard determination.