Can you help? My Harold Wood solicitor is informing me me that she is duty bound toapply for Harold Wood conveyancing searches becausethe firm are on the Santanderapproved lawyer panel. Do I not have a choice here?

Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are taking a home loan with a lender your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Harold Wood conveyancing searches.

Will lawyers request an advanced payment for conveyancing in Harold Wood?

If you are buying a property in Harold Wood your solicitor will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is payable against the sale price then this will be needed immediately ahead of exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is due will be payable a couple of days prior to the day of completion.

Me and my brother own a renovated Georgian property in Harold Wood. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Santander. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking Santander to clarify?

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Harold Wood and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.

I am the proprietor of a basement flat in Harold Wood. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Harold Wood premises is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 57.5 years.

Are there frequently found problems that you encounter in leases for Harold Wood properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Harold Wood. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts. Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Threeweeks into buying a residence in Harold Wood. Conveyancing lawyer has told us the title is "Leasehold". Should this make a difference on our home loan valuation?

Harold Wood conveyancing does not usually involve leasehold houses. The main consideration here is the remaining lease term and the ground rent. If there are over a hundred years remaining with a nominal rent, it's virtually freehold, so it’s unlikely to affect the value significantly.

At the other end of the spectrum, if it's, say, 50 years it is bound to have a significant effect on the value, and probably wouldn't be mortgageable. The length of lease and ground rent will be specified in the lease to be supplied to your lawyer.