I am due to complete buying a property in Bishops Stortford but as a consequence of wreckage from the recent storms I have managed to agree reparation from the seller of £2k by way of a reduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of amending the contract but UBS are not allowing this. Why were they approached?

Any conveyancing practitioner being on a UBS conveyancing panel is duty bound to advise UBS of any changes to the sale price. If you prohibit your solicitor to disclose the price change to UBS then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, UBS and you would have to appoint a new conveyancing practitioner for your conveyancing in Bishops Stortford.

It is is a decade since I purchased my house in Bishops Stortford. Conveyancing lawyers have now been retained on the sale but I am unable to track down my title deeds. Is this a major issue?

You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be kept by the lender or they may be archived with the solicitor who acted in your purchase. Secondly in most cases the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Bishops Stortford involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.

We're in Bishops Stortford, First time buyers buying with a mortgage (lender is RBS , and our solicitor is on the RBS conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Bishops Stortford. Conveyancing is necessary evil 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.

Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Bishops Stortford

Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please supply a car parking plan.

We own a leasehold flat in Bishops Stortford. Conveyancing was finished in 2009. I have read on a number of advice forums that I mustn’t let the lease length get too short. Why is that a problem?

Bishops Stortford leasehold properties are for a set period - normally ninety nine years when they started. However many appartments in Bishops Stortford were built or converted 30 or more years ago and so these leases now have fewer than eighty years remaining. This may sound like a long time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders generally require leases to have a minimum of 75 years unexpired to adequate security. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are nearing seventy five years. To optimize the saleability of your property you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. You should note that there are strong financial reasons to taking action before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease falls below eighty years the premium to be paid to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.