We are about to sign contracts for a leasehold flat in Christchurch. We have hit a problem. The mortgage offer with HSBC Bank expires on 5/7/2024 but the owners are putting forward a completion date of 9/7/2024. Can one prolong the loan expiry date?

The person best placed to address this concern is your conveyancer who will determine whether he or she is better off negotiating with the mortgage broker, vendor’s conveyancers, property agents or indeed all parties based on the history of your conveyancing as of today.

In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Christchurch? Is this really necessary?

Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering regulations require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the ID of the potential client they are dealing with prior to agreeing to accepting their conveyancing retainer. The Client Care letter that you need to sign should reaffirm this. Your lender will also require certain documents to be checked. Should you are unwilling to supply identification documents, your lawyer would not be able to act for you.

I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Christchurch off the council. I have a mortgage offer with Coventry BS. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Coventry BS, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Christchurch. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are sorted out effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.

I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Christchurch. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Not long after, the lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Santander 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 Santander 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 am 17 days into a residential purchase having been directed to solicitors by the selling agent to do our conveyancing in Christchurch. I am am extremely dissatisfied with the level of service. Can you help me find new lawyers?

They would need to be really bad to suggest diss instructing them. Has your mortgage offer been generated? In the event that it has you need to advise them of the new contact details and get the mortgage documents are issued to the new lawyers. The conveyancer should be on the lenders approved list to avoid supplemental expenses and delays. That should be your starting point. Our find a solicitor tool should help you find a bank approved solicitor for your conveyancing in Christchurch

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Christchurch. Conveyancing and Chelsea Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Christchurch who previously acted has now retired. Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Christchurch conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I acquired a leasehold flat in Christchurch, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable flats in Christchurch with an extended lease are worth £260,000. The ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2098

You have 74 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.