I am one month into the sale of my maisonette in Turnpike Lane and the estate agent has just text me to advise that the buyers are appointing a new conveyancer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only engage with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Turnpike Lane ?

Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for over 25 years.

Mortgage companies attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

What is the optimum way to investigate if the solicitor carrying out my conveyancing in Turnpike Lane is on the bank’sconveyancing panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for The Mortgage Works thus paying £187.00 plus VAT in another set of conveyancing costs.

Feel free to make the most of the search tool on this web page. Pick the mortgage company and type ‘Turnpike Lane’ or your preferred area and you will see numerous conveyancers offices in Turnpike Lane or nearest you.

I am looking for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Turnpike Lane I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Turnpike Lane in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?

Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.

Given that I will soon part with hundreds of thousands of pounds on a garden flat in Turnpike Lane I wish to talk to a conveyancer regarding theconveyancing prior to appointing the firm. Can this be arranged?

This is something that we encourage - we would be pleased to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the lawyer who will be conducting your property ownership legalities in Turnpike Lane.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is unique person, not a matter reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for residential conveyancing in Turnpike Lane should be the figure that you are charged.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Turnpike Lane. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Turnpike Lane who acted for me is not around. Do I pay?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Turnpike Lane conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Despite our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Turnpike Lane. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Turnpike Lane conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Turnpike Lane flat is First Floor Flat 109 Lyndhurst Road in May 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 29th October 2009 the Tribunal decided on a figure of £5,012 for a lease extension. This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 81.79 years.