My husband and I are intent on buying a ground floor flat in Bungay. My Solicitor is not on the bank approved panel. Is it possible for me to continue with my Bungay conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the bank approved list?

You must use a lawyer to complete the legal work required if you need a loan to purchase your property. The conveyancing practitioner will conduct all the necessary investigations on the property, ensuring that you’re registered as proprietor and ensure that all the necessary mortgage documentation is dealt with. One could instruct a Bungay property lawyer of your choosing. However, where the solicitor selected is not on the lender conveyancing panel supplemental fees will arise as separate legal representation will be need by the bank. Conveyancing panel applications may be submitted, so if your lawyer has not in the past applied for membership they can do so.

When does exchange of contracts happen for domestic conveyancing in Bungay and am I required to be at the lawyers branch?

If you are local to our conveyancing solicitors in Bungay you are invited in to sign contracts. That being said, the firms we recommend supply a national conveyancing service and provide as equally diligent and professional a job for you when dealing with you electronically. The signing of the contract is not the important part. A signed contract simply enables the solicitor to address the formalities at the appropriate time, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The procedure is is usually a five minute process, although where a long "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Bungay)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.

What can a local search inform me concerning the house I am buying in Bungay?

Bungay conveyancing often starts with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company such as Onsearch The local search plays an important role in most Bungay conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any nasty surprises after you move into your property. The search should reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject areas.

I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one round the corner in Bungay I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Bungay for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Bungay. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Bungay who previously acted has long since retired. What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Bungay conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I acquired a 1st floor flat in Bungay, conveyancing was carried out September 2002. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable properties in Bungay with an extended lease are worth £227,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2096

With 72 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.