My fiance and I are hoping to buy a house in Hatton and are in fact using a Hatton conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Nationwide Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Hatton solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors 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 mortgage company 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Hatton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
How up to date is your database of Hatton solicitors on the HSBC conveyancing panel? Do HSBC send you an updated list?
Hatton conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from HSBC directly.
I have just over seventy years left on my lease and require a lease extension for my flat in Hatton. Conveyancing solicitors on the Platform panel can deal with such extensions correct?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 15/8/2025 the requirements read as follows :
How does conveyancing in Hatton differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Hatton approach us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is constructed. This is because developers in Hatton usually acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Hatton or who has acted in the same development.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one round the corner in Hatton I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Hatton for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.
Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £325,000 flat in Hatton next week. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Hatton?
For the majority of leasehold sales in Hatton conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
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Answering pre-contract questions
Where consent is required before sale in Hatton
Copies of the building insurance and schedule
Deeds of covenant upon sale
Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Hatton. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Hatton property is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 82.93 years.