My husband and I are buying a purpose built apartment in March with a loan from .We would like to retain our March conveyancing practitioner but informed us her practice is not listed on their approved list of firms. we are left little option but to use a panel lawyer or keep our high street solicitor and pay for a panel lawyer to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you contains terms and conditions, a common one being that lawyers must be on the approved list. Until recently, 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 lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with . I assume I don't need a March on the panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the mortgage from the register. , and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. has instructed the Land Registry to do so

The mortgage over my property is with for my property in March. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform ?

must be informed of your intention before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of ’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a conveyancing panel solicitor.

Planning on purchasing a apartment in March. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the March is on the conveyancing panel.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one close by in March I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in March in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage that many years will be an issue. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.

What tools are available to search for a March law firm on the conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am prepared to travel upto 20miles to meet the solicitor.

You can use the tool on this page. Please pick a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of March conveyancing lawyers locally. We have listed some March conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can telephone them to verify if they are on the panel

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in March which have about forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in March is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. 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 premises 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 March 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. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. 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.

March Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying

Its a good idea to discover as much as you can about the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you will be at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily issues like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Enquire of other tenants what they think of their management. On a final note, be sure you understand the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the appropriate party and specifically how they are spending the funds. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability? Most March leasehold properties will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building set by the landlord. Should you buy the property you will have to meet this amount, normally quarterly throughout the year. This can vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. In all probability there will be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a significant sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to enquire it because sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds.