My wife and I are planning to buy a home in Repton and are in fact using a Repton conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Norwich and Peterborough Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Repton conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual 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 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Repton lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Repton. My lender is Virgin
Virgin have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 1/2/2026, the requirements read as follows :
I am helping my aunt sell her property in Repton. Will the conveyancer commission the energy performance certificate or it is for the seller to see to?
Following the abolition of HIPs, energy performance certificates was maintained a required element of moving house. An EPC should be to hand before the property is put on the market. It is not a task that law firms normally organise. Where you are instructing a Repton conveyancing solicitor they might be willing to arrange energy performance certificates due to their relationships with reputable local providers
We had instructed conveyancing lawyers located in Repton on the Coventry BS solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional sum for the legal aspects of the Coventry BS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Coventry BS?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your property lawyer is entitled to charge a fee for this. This fee is not dictated by Coventry BS but by your Repton lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Coventry BS panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but many practices incorporate it on their overall fee.
I'm at the point of looking at flats in Repton and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it advisable to have my solicitor on ‘stand by’? I intend to finance via a home loan with Lloyds.
You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the EA. As you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
A friend suggested that where I am purchasing in Repton I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Repton conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Repton around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Repton.
Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Repton. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Repton
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Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal.
Planning to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Repton. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Repton should include some of the following:
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Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business Setting out your rights in respect of common areas in the building.E.G., does the lease permit a right of way over an accessway or staircase? Whether your lease caters for for a sinking fund? You should know if the lease allows you to change or upgrade anything in the property- you should know whether it applies to all alterations or limited to structural alteration, and whether licences for alterations is mandated necessary Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
I purchased a studio flat in Repton, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Repton with a long lease are worth £222,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2096
With just 70 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £9,500 and £11,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.