My wife and I are looking to purchase a home in Oxfordshire and are in fact using a Oxfordshire conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Alliance & Leicester have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Oxfordshire lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal 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 property lawyer should contact your lender 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 Oxfordshire lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Is it possible for conveyancing in Oxfordshire to be concluded in under two weeks?
Where the seller is applying pressure to exchange we would recommend that your lawyer is familiar with the area as they will have local relationships and insight. It is possible that they may have handled otherhouses in the same neighbourhood. Therefore consider using a Oxfordshire conveyancing lawyer. In addition, ensure that the conveyancing firm is on the member panel. It is said that 18% of Oxfordshire conveyancing transactions are held up or jeopardised after finding out that a buyer’s solicitor was not on their banks member panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the legal transfer of property being delayed by almost three weeks. It is said that this issue impacts in the region of one hundred thousand home moves every year. Almost all Oxfordshire conveyancing firms can not act for certain mortgage companies so do check at the outset.
About to place a bid on a leasehold apartment in Oxfordshire. The estate agents advise that it is standard for flats in Oxfordshire to have less than 75 years remaining. I am expecting a mortgage with Tesco Bank. Is this going to be a problem if the lease has 70 years to go.
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. Tesco Bank have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 4/11/2025 the requirements read as follows :
I just acquired a house at auction in Oxfordshire. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?
Now that you are exchanged you should appoint a conveyancing solicitor soon as you are facing a pending a fixed date to complete the transaction. An auction property will have a corresponding auction set of papers. This should include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. In the case of leasehold premises the auction papers should contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation relating to a leasehold property. You must give this to the lawyer working for you ASAP. You also need to ensure that you have funds in order to complete on the on the contractual date .
We were going to get a OIP from Kent Reliance this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Kent Reliance recommend any Oxfordshire solicitors on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint Oxfordshire solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Kent Reliance through the process.
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in May 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Nationwide are being pedantic. The Oxfordshire solicitor who is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Nationwide are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Nationwide have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Nationwide have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Nationwide may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Oxfordshire with the intention of saving time on the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Oxfordshire can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ lawyers. A minority of Oxfordshire leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale. If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Oxfordshire state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Should you dont have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
I acquired a 1st floor flat in Oxfordshire, conveyancing formalities finalised 6 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Oxfordshire with a long lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2099
With only 74 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as costs.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.
Our conveyancer in Oxfordshire has uncovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Oxfordshire. The seller’s lawyers have offered title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our lawyer has advised that as he is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel he must be satisfied that the lender is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. A precondition to being on the mortgage company approved panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.