I am hoping to receive a mortgage with Santander. I hope to enlist the help of a Licensed Conveyancer in St Andrews. Does the Santander Solicitor panel include conveyancers regulated by the CLC?

The Santander conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders, associated to the CML or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

I am looking to buy a property and need a conveyancing solicitor in St Andrews who is on the Leeds Building Society approved. Can you recommend a local firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Leeds Building Society in certain locations such as St Andrews. We dont recommend any particular firm.

How easy is it to use the search tool to choose a conveyancing solicitor in St Andrews on the approved list for my lender?

Step one is to select a mortgage company such as Halifax, Skipton Building Society or Aldermore then specify your preferred area e.g. St Andrews. Conveyancing firms in St Andrews and beyond should be listed.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in St Andrews from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Andrews can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ solicitors.
If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a St Andrews conveyancing deal. Where a new share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity. If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in St Andrews state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance. Many freeholders or managing agents in St Andrews charge for providing management packs for a leasehold home. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Andrews.

I purchased a 1 bedroom flat in St Andrews, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in St Andrews with over 90 years remaining are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2094

With only 69 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

A licensed conveyancer handled my conveyancing in St Andrews 5 years ago having stored my registration documents but has now closed – how do I retreive these?

Title deeds, as such, no longer exist as the majority of properties in St Andrews are recorded digitally at Land Registry. Should you need to show ownership or are disposing of or re-mortgaging your lawyer should obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.

If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned as quickly as possible.