I am the registered owner of a freehold property in Maze Hill yet charged rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in Maze Hill and has limited impact for conveyancing in Maze Hill but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of new rentcharges post 1977.
Previous rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 will be extinguished.
I have 71 years remaining on my lease and need a lease extension for my apartment in Maze Hill. Conveyancing solicitors on the Platform panel can deal with such extensions correct?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 23/5/2025 the requirements read as follows :
My wife and I are purchasing a property in Maze Hill. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to put funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our monies?
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.
My partner and I are at the point of looking at apartments in Maze Hill and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I am planning to take a mortgage with UBS.
You should start obtaining conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the selling agent. Given that you are getting a mortgage with UBS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the UBS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Maze Hill. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £150. Soon after, the property lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Clydesdale 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 Clydesdale 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.
I have justdiscovered that Stirling Law have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Maze Hill for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 12 months ago. How can I establish that the property is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?
The quickest method to check if the property is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Maze Hill conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in Maze Hill differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Maze Hill come to us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is completed. This is because new home sellers in Maze Hill usually buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Maze Hill or who has acted in the same development.
What tools are available to search for a Maze Hill conveyancing solicitor on the mortgage company conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 10miles to meet the conveyancer.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel tool on this page. Please choose the lender and your location, in this case Maze Hill and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest Maze Hill. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the bank solicitor panel.