We are a couple about to sign contracts for a property in Ventnor. We encountered a stumbling block. Our loan offer with Alliance & Leicester runs out on 15/9/2025 but the owners are suggesting a completion date of 17/9/2025. Is it possible to prolong the mortgage expiry date?

The person best placed to deal with your issue is your lawyer who will hopefully determine if he or she is corresponding with the mortgage broker, vendor’s conveyancers, property agents or conceivably all three taking into account the history of your conveyancing as of today.

I have an AIP. The lender mentioned the mortgage came with free conveyancing. Is the implication that I have to appoint their panel lawyer as I would prefer to use a Ventnor based conveyancing firm?

Do check but the chances are that allocate you one of their panel lawyers if you accept the "fee-free" incentive. Contact the lender and determine if they allow a cash alternative. Some mortgage companies have previously offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case you could put that amount towards your preferred conveyancing solicitor in Ventnor.

What does a local search inform me regarding the property I am buying in Ventnor?

Ventnor conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations such as PSG The local search plays a central role in most Ventnor conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any nasty surprises after you move into your new home. The search will reveal information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject areas.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my lease in Ventnor. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Ventnor.

Ventnor Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

It is important to be aware if fixing the lift or some other major work is coming up to be shared amongst the tenants and may well materially impact the level of the maintenance fees or necessitate a one time payment. This information is useful as a) areas could cause problems in the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to have full disclosure

My wife and I are acquiring a garden flat in Ventnor. At the time of instructing our property lawyer, we were told they were on all major UK lender panels. The mortgage broker called yesterday to say that they are not on the HSBC approved list. Should that be true, what should we do? Do we simply find a different conveyancer that is on their panel or should we pay for dual representation, with HSBC appointing their own preferred solicitor.

Where you are acquiring a property needing a mortgage it is conventional for the buyer’s lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a lawyer has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the solicitor has to meet. Some building societies now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact HSBC and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on HSBC's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Ventnor lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another conveyancing practitioner into the equation.