I am the registered owner of a freehold property in Rayners Lane but still pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in Rayners Lane and has limited impact for conveyancing in Rayners Lane 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 have existed for many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Old rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 is to be extinguished.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Rayners Lane. My lender is The Mortgage Works
The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 3/8/2025, the requirements read as follows :
I'm the single beneficiary of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Rayners Lane. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in July. I want to move. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship could be considered the same way as if I'd bought the house in July. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. Most banks would take a pragmatic view as this clause is primarily there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
We had selected conveyancing lawyers based in Rayners Lane on the Clydesdale solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me an additional fee for handling the Clydesdale mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Clydesdale?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancing practitioner can levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Clydesdale but by your Rayners Lane solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Clydesdale panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many practices include it on their overall fee.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Rayners Lane. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an on account payment of £150. Not long after, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland 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.
What makes your site different to other online quote calculators for conveyancing in Rayners Lane?
At this site obtain a fixed fee quote from a Solicitor or Licensed Conveyancer that has a full understanding of the issues for your conveyancing in Rayners Lane. As opposed to estate agents and brokerage sites we do not have commission arrangements with solicitors. Many agents and online brokers 'recommend' the firm who pay the most per referral, as opposed to the best value conveyancing in Rayners Lane
Is it best to appoint a Rayners Lane conveyancing lawyer based in the location that I am buying? I have an old university friend who can deal with the legal work but his firm is located approximately 350kilometers drive away.
The primary upside of using a local Rayners Lane conveyancing firm is that you can visit the firm to sign paperwork, hand in your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local insight which is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and on the whole were happy that should surpass using an unknown Rayners Lane conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Rayners Lane based.
Are Rayners Lane conveyancing solicitors duty bound by the Law Society to supply transparent conveyancing costs?
Contained within the Solicitors Code of Conduct are set rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their fees to clients.The Law Society have practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not to be regarded as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, however, represent the Law Society’s view of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in Rayners Lane or across England and Wales.