My wife and I are planning to buy a property in Fortis Green and are in fact using a Fortis Green conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Lloyds TSB Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Fortis Green solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors 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 property lawyer 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Fortis Green solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

I am acquiring a property mortgage free in Fortis Green. I have resided for the last Seventeen years in Fortis Green. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. As I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?

If you not getting a mortgage, then the vast majority of the Fortis Green conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to consider; if you are going to dispose of the house at a future date, it could be of relevance to your future purchaser what the searches disclose. There are plenty of instances where houses with functional issues can still throw up adverse search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Fortis Green should be able to give you some sensible advice in this regard.

My husband and I wish to acquire a newly converted apartment in Fortis Green with a homeloan from Norwich and Peterborough Building Society.We like our Fortis Green conveyancing solicitor but Norwich and Peterborough Building Society says his firm is not on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel firm or retain our high street solicitor and pay for a Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel lawyer to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Norwich and Peterborough Building Society use our lawyer?

Unfortunately,no. The home loan offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, a common one being that lawyers will be on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society approved list. in the past, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Norwich and Peterborough Building Society

I have recentlydiscovered that Action Conveyancing have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Fortis Green for a purchase of a freehold house 9 months ago. How can I establish that the property is in my name in the name of the former proprietor?

The quickest way to see if the property is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Fortis Green conveyancing specialists.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Fortis Green. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Fortis Green ?

The majority of houses in Fortis Green are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Fortis Green in which case you should be looking for a Fortis Green conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

I am the proprietor of a ground flat in Fortis Green. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for a lease extension?

Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to make a decision on the price.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Fortis Green property is 21 St Matthews Court Coppetts Road in February 2013. the applicant applied to the Tribunal for a determination of the premium payable for a lease extension pursuant to Section 48 of the Leasehold Reform (Housing and Urban Development ) Act 1993. The tribunal therefore ordered that the premium was to be £13,267. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 68 years.