Having sold my house in Thorne last January yet the purchaser is SMS messaging every few hours to say their conveyancer needs to hear from mysolicitor. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?

Following your house sale your solicitor is obliged to deliver the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. If applicable, your conveyancer must also confirm that the mortgage has been repaid to the buyers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion tasks just for conveyancing in Thorne.

I am close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our house in Thorne and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. Any high street Thorne lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a nationwide conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Thorne. Having lived in Thorne for 5 years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to get in touch with our local Authority to get confirmation that the buyers are looking for.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer already. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Thorne is where the house is located. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Thorne are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Thorne you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Thorne may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Thorne where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Thorne conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Thorne Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

It would be prudent to discover if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is very common in Thorne leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Thorne. If you love the propertyin Thorne yet your cat is not allowed to move with you then you will be presented with a hard decision. Who manages the block? The best form of lease structure is if the freehold title is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants benefit from being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually employed where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.

My sister purchased her house in Thorne in 2005. She has since got married, divorced and has recently married again. She intends to sell the house in a few weeks. I believe she will just be need to provide a copy of the marriage papers to the lawyer however she is worried it could delay the house sale. Should she appoint a conveyancing practitioner to update the title documents for the house?

It is not absolutely necessary to update the register as long as you have the proof required to demonstrate how the name change resulted.

The purchaser’s solicitor will check the land registry details and request evidence to establish the change of name for example marriage certificates.