Some advice if I may. My Leamouth lawyer is advising me that she is duty bound toconduct Leamouth conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the Santanderapproved lawyer panel. Do I not have any options here?
You have limited options available to you. As you are obtaining a mortgage with a mortgage company your conveyancing practitioner has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancing practitioner would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Leamouth conveyancing searches.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Leamouth. My lender is Platform
Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 3/2/2026, the requirements read as follows :
Me and my brother have a renovated Victorian property in Leamouth. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Leamouth and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.
I am buying a new build flat in Leamouth. 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 legal work.
Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Leamouth
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Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?
Am I best advised to appoint a Leamouth conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am purchasing? An old friend can perform the legal work however her office is 400miles away.
The primary upside of using a high street Leamouth conveyancing practice is that you can attend the office to sign documents, hand in your ID and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local insight which is a bonus. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who used your friend and in the main were happy that should surpass using an unfamiliar Leamouth conveyancing solicitor just because they are round the corner.
I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Leamouth where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Leamouth conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Leamouth. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
if there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to decide the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Leamouth flat is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 69.77 years.