My husband and I are planning to purchase a home in Spalding and are in fact using a Spalding conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Lloyds TSB Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Spalding solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Spalding lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

I have justfound out that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Spalding for a purchase of a leasehold flat 12 months ago. How can I establish that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest method to see if the premises is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Spalding conveyancing specialists.

I am buying a new build apartment in Spalding. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Spalding

Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme.

How does the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my commercial offices in Spalding and how can you help?

The 1954 Act affords security of tenure to business lessees, granting the right to make a request to court for a new tenancy and continue in occupation when the lease reaches an end. There are certain specified grounds that a landlord can refuse a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Spalding is one of our numerous areas of the UK in which the firms we work with are located

To what extent are Spalding conveyancing solicitors under an obligation to the Law Society to issue transparent conveyancing figures?

Inbuilt into the Solicitors Code of Conduct are set rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their fees to clients.The Law Society have practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not intended as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, nevertheless, constitute the Law Society’s perspective of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in Spalding or further afield.