My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a home in Heysham and have appointed a Heysham conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. The Mortgage Works have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Heysham solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 solicitor 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Heysham solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am about to put a bid on a leasehold flat in Heysham. The property agents tell me that it is usual for flats in Heysham to have less than 75 years unexpired on the lease. I am expecting a loan with Tesco Bank. Is this going to be acceptable if the lease has 72 years remaining.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Tesco Bank have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 21/4/2025 the requirements read as follows :
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Heysham?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Heysham. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one near me in Heysham I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Heysham for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Heysham. Conveyancing has not commenced, but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
It best that you discharge the invoice as usual given that all rents and service invoices should be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice 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.
I acquired a split level flat in Heysham, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2000. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Heysham with an extended lease are worth £190,000. The ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2087
With just 62 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £17,100 and £19,800 as well as professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.
We are thinking of using a web based conveyancing practitioner as opposed to a Heysham conveyancing firm. Am I making a mistake?
There are advantages of being able to attend a local Heysham conveyancing solicitor such as
- signing documents same day
- sometimes being able to see someone face-to-face can make a huge difference, particularly for more complex house moves
- the ability to complain if things need to addressed
When checking quotes, look carefully for hidden extras. Most decent Heysham high street solicitors give an all-inclusive figure. Many online companies seem to offer discounted fees, but have burried 'extras' in the fine print.