My wife and I are hoping to acquire a property in Clitheroe and are in fact using a Clitheroe conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Virgin Money have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Clitheroe lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Clitheroe lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Clitheroe. My lender is Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 9/5/2025, the requirements read as follows :
A friend suggested that where I am buying in Clitheroe I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Clitheroe conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Clitheroe 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 demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Clitheroe Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Clitheroe.
I am buying my first flat in Clitheroe benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent told me not to tell my conveyancer about the deal as it will put at risk my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I am intending to let out my leasehold apartment in Clitheroe. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?
The lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Clitheroe do not contain subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.
I inherited a split level flat in Clitheroe, conveyancing having been completed August 2007. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Clitheroe with a long lease are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease ceases on 21st October 2094
You have 69 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.
We are midway through purchasing a property in Clitheroe. Conveyancing lawyer has phoned to say the property is "Leasehold". Does this adversely affect the salability of the property?
Clitheroe conveyancing does not normally involve leasehold houses. The key factor here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a peppercorn rent, it's virtually freehold, so it shouldn't impact the value too much.
On the flip side, if it's, say, Sixty years it will have a material effect on the saleability, and most likely wouldn't be mortgageable. The remaining lease term and ground rent will be specified in the lease to be supplied to your property lawyer.