I was recommended to a conveyancer who has sent a quote for £1700 for freehold conveyancing in East Finchley. I’m hoping to downsize from a Georgian detached home for £200,000. Are these conveyancing fees excessive? Is it above what I should be paying for conveyancing in East Finchley?
The costs illustration is slightly on the high side. If you shop around you might reduce the fees marginally by as much as £100 plus VAT. On the other hand, you maycome to regret opting for an an unknown conveyancer. If is important to ensure the solicitor can act for your mortgage company. You can utilise our comparison tool to choose a East Finchley conveyancing company on the banks member panel which can often include conveyancing solicitors in East Finchley.
I have Fifty Six years unexpired on my lease and require a lease extension for my apartment in East Finchley. Conveyancing solicitors on the The Mortgage Works panel can deal with such extensions correct?
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. The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 29/6/2025 the requirements read as follows :
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 70 years
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn ground rent (annual rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any new build properties completed but not sold pre 30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the lease conforms to the above guidance
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years
LEASE EXTENSIONS
We require all lease extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to the Issuing Office
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
We are buying a flat in East Finchley. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a lawyer? At some point we will need to deposit funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in East Finchley. My mortgage broker suggested a property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. A few days later, the lawyer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Nottingham panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Planning on purchasing a maisonette in East Finchley. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the East Finchley lawyer is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel.
I have been told that property searches are the number one cause of stalling in East Finchley house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in East Finchley.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in East Finchley I like with a park and station nearby, however it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in East Finchley suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
Am I better off to instruct a East Finchley conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am buying? I have an old university friend who can conduct the legal formalities however they are based 200miles away.
The primary upside of using a high street East Finchley conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to sign documents, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local insight which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who used your friend and in the main were impressed that should outweigh using an unfamiliar East Finchley conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being local.