The owners have rather pushy vendors who has insisted on a preliminary contract with a deposit of 5k. Are such agreements sensible?

There are two main downsides with executing a lock out contract (also known as an exclusivity agreement) is that it takes away the focus from moving forward with the conveyancing transaction itself, so unless it requires little or no negotiation then it may turn out to be unhelpful. It is not strongly advocated amongst St Anns conveyancing lawyers as a result. A further negative is the extent of the remedies available - an aggrieved buyer is not likely to be granted an injunctive ruling by a court to prevent the seller completing the sale to another buyer, so the only remedy available under the agreement will be the reimbursement of wasted costs and, in rare scenarios, the extra payment of penalties.

We note that you have a post code search directory listing firms on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a commission if I instruct them for our conveyancing in St Anns?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in St Anns.

It has been 4 months since my purchase conveyancing in St Anns concluded. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in St Anns both have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in St Anns is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with St Anns conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in St Anns, conveyancing having been completed 10 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in St Anns with over 90 years remaining are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2096

You have 70 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Me and my partner are planning to purchase a 2 bedroom ground floor flatin St Anns with a home loan from a mortgage company. We would like to retain our solicitor in St Anns however our lender advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the our mortgage company panel solicitors or keep our St Anns solicitor and incur the extra costs for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. The bank mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank's conveyancing panel. in the past, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels, including most conveyancing solicitors in St Anns : a borrower could choose 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. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.