My husband and I are planning to acquire a property in Abersychan and are in fact using a Abersychan conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Abersychan conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Abersychan solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

My partner and I intend to remortgage our flat in Abersychan with . We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to . This is solely used to protect if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

Is it the case that all Abersychan CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the conveyancing list of approved practices?

A selection of banks and building societies now make use of CQS as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.

How can we know in advance if a Abersychan conveyancing solicitor on the panel is any good?

When it comes to conveyancing in Abersychan getting recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always suggest that you speak with the solicitor handling your conveyancing.

Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Abersychan. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Abersychan is where the house is located. Can you offer any assistance?

Flying freeholds in Abersychan are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Abersychan you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Abersychan may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Abersychan both have approximately forty five years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Abersychan is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. The majority of buyers 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 property 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 Abersychan conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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 any new 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 inherited a studio flat in Abersychan, conveyancing having been completed 3 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar properties in Abersychan with a long lease are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 50

You have 50 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £36,100 and £41,800 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.