My fiance and I are planning to purchase a home in Stapleford and have appointed a Stapleford conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Stapleford solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 Quality 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 Stapleford solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

Can your site be used to recommend a Conveyancing solicitor in Stapleford even where I’m not purchasing or disposing of a house, for instance if I want to acquire an office in Stapleford with a loan from ?

The service is mainly there to select domestic conveyancing solicitors in Stapleford but we have listed at the bottom of this page a few Stapleford commercial conveyancing firms. You should speak with the solicitors directly to establish if they are also authorised to represent

We are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our property in Stapleford and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any local lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers instructed a national conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Stapleford. We have lived in Stapleford for six years we know that this is a non issue. Should we contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation need.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer already. What do they say? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Stapleford is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can impart?

Flying freeholds in Stapleford are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Stapleford you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Stapleford may decide 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 residence.

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Stapleford. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, however I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice as you normally would because all ground rent and service invoices will be apportioned on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Stapleford Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? Does this lease have more than 82 years left? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?