My wife and I are hoping to purchase a house in Middleton St George and are in fact using a Middleton St George conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Yorkshire Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Middleton St George 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' 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender 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 as you are at liberty to use your preferred Middleton St George lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Finally the sale completed on my house in Middleton St George last January but our buyer keeps telephoning every few hours to say their solicitor needs to hear from mylawyer. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?

Following your sale your conveyancer should send the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. Depending on the transaction, your lawyer should also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been discharged to the purchasers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion steps just for conveyancing in Middleton St George.

I am selling my home in Middleton St George. Will the property lawyer have to be required to be on the Barclays conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Barclays conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their conditions fairly frequently in recent years.

My uncle has recommend that I appoint his lawyers for conveyancing in Middleton St George. Do I follow his guidance?

Much as we are happy to recommend a Middleton St George conveyancing lawyer the ideal way to choose a conveyancing solicitor is to seek referrals from friends or relatives who have used the firm you're contemplating using.

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Middleton St George. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have recently received a yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge as usual as all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Middleton St George - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Generally speaking the cost for major works are not wrapped into the service charges, although there some managing agents in Middleton St George obliged leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for major works. Who takes charge for maintaining and repairing the building?