Me and my fiance are planning to acquire a 1 bedroom apartment in Shinfield with a mortgage. We have a Shinfield conveyancer, however the bank says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Shinfield lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Shinfield conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My partner and I swapping mortgage lender for our flat in Shinfield with Leeds Building Society. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Leeds Building Society. This is solely used to protect Leeds Building Society if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Leeds Building Society had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

How does conveyancing in Shinfield differ for new build properties?

Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Shinfield come to us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is built. This is because developers in Shinfield typically buy the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Shinfield or who has acted in the same development.

Hoping to buy a property located in Shinfield and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Shinfield. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Shinfield area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Shinfield. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found

I wish to let out my leasehold flat in Shinfield. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

A lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Shinfield do not prevent subletting altogether – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

Shinfield Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Make sure you enquire if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Shinfield. If you love the apartmentin Shinfield however your dog is not allowed to make the move with you then you have a very difficult determination. How much is the service charge and ground rent on the property? Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that will add a premium to the maintenance charges?