My partner and I are looking to buy a house in Whitehaven and have appointed a Whitehaven conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Virgin Money have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Whitehaven lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Whitehaven solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

It is 10 years ago since I bought my house in Whitehaven. Conveyancing lawyers have just been appointed on the sale but I can't find my deeds. Will this cause complications?

Don’t worry too much. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be with the lender or they may be in the possession of the lawyers who handled the purchase. Secondly in most cases the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Whitehaven involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is not registered it is more tricky but is resolvable.

I'm buying my first flat in Whitehaven with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not inform my lawyer about the extras as it could affect my mortgage with Alliance & Leicester . Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Whitehaven what are the most common lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Whitehaven. All leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

Insurance obligations Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Virgin Money, and Aldermore all have very detailed 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.

I inherited a basement flat in Whitehaven, conveyancing having been completed in 2003. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable properties in Whitehaven with over 90 years remaining are worth £201,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2091

With only 65 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £13,300 and £15,400 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

My wife and I have appointed a Whitehaven conveyancing solicitor for our home move (first time buyers) and have picked up in the terms and conditions that they are not covered by the Financial Conduct Authority. Need I be concerned or is that usually the case with conveyancing practitioner?

We can't see why they should be. Most property lawyer don't lend money. They should be regulated by the SRA, who have stringent stipulations in place on funds held in their bank.