Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Principality. Ruxley conveyancing practitioners have been appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Principality?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have Principality done the survey? Have you informed Principality as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Principality conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

I have a mortgage with Aldermore for my property in Ruxley. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. In the event that I decide 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 Aldermore?

Aldermore must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Aldermore will allow you to rent 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 Aldermore directly. You need not do this via a Aldermore conveyancing panel firm.

My offer was accepted on a property in Ruxley on 23/7/2025, valuation was booked 3 days after, all came back fine. Conveyancer appointed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to TSB and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel. Are TSB entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for TSB to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the TSB conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

A colleague suggested that where I am buying in Ruxley I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Ruxley conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Ruxley around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Ruxley Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Ruxley.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in Ruxley I like with open areas and transport links nearby, however it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Ruxley in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?

Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

Is it possible to switch conveyancer as I need to appoint a firm on the Virgin Money conveyancing list. I had appointed a local conveyancing solicitor in Ruxley five minutes from me but the firm is not approved by Virgin Money

We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Ruxley on the Virgin Money panel. Please note that the property lawyers that we list do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are fully regulated by the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Ruxley. Using search facility on this site, you can scrutinise fees for conveyancing solicitors in Ruxley and beyond.

Is it true that a Ruxley conveyancing solicitor taken to court by a client for not carrying out comprehensive conveyancing investigations?

We are not aware of such a Ruxley conveyancing matter but it has been reported that, clients acquiring a home in Cumbria successfully sued their conveyancing practitioner as a consequence of development plans to erect a wind farm failing to be picked up in conveyancing searches.

Where you are thinking of buying a home in Ruxley It is critical that your conveyancing practitioner conduct all Ruxley conveyancing searches required making sure that you have accurate and up to date information before acquiring a home in Ruxley.