My wife and I have recently appointed a conveyancing solicitor in St Werburghs. I I would like to check whether they are on the approved list of lawyers. Can you assist?

You should contact the solicitor and enquire whether they are on the lender panel. Alternatively please get in touch with who may be able to confirm.

I am the only recipient of my late grandmother’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in St Werburghs. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in . I plan to dispose of the property. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be regarded the same way as if I'd bought the property in . Is the property unsalable for six months?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. How sensible a view lenders take of it, depend on the lender as this requirement is chiefly there to pick up on subsales or the quick reselling of properties.

I have paid off my mortgage with . I assume I don't need a St Werburghs on the panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the mortgage from the register. , and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. has instructed the Land Registry to do so

Planning on purchasing a maisonette in St Werburghs. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the St Werburghs is on the conveyancing panel.

I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in St Werburghs before retaining solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies will refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold home.

It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can check via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in St Werburghs. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

Given that I am about to part with hundreds of thousands of pounds on a terraced house in St Werburghs I wish to talk to a conveyancer about myhome move prior to appointing the firm. Can this be arranged?

We could not agree more - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the conveyancer who will be doing your conveyancing in St Werburghs.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique individual, not a case number. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for residential conveyancing in St Werburghs should be the figure that you are charged.

Frank (my husband) and I may need to let out our St Werburghs ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a St Werburghs conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your last St Werburghs conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

St Werburghs Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the lessees enjoy being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability? The answer will be important as a) areas could result in problems for the building as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if maintenance remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to know about it