Completed the sale of my flat in Hay On Wye last September but the buyer keeps Skype messaging daily to say their lawyer is waiting to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?

After completion of your disposal your lawyer is obliged to forward the transfer deeds and all additional paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Depending on the transaction, your lawyer should also evidence that the home loan has been redeemed to the purchasers solicitors. There are no post completion procedures specific conveyancing in Hay On Wye.

The Hay On Wye conveyancing firm that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Hay On Wye have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the UBS conveyancing panel and my family Hay On Wye lawyer was not. I paid them 275 plus VAT on account. What should be my next steps?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the UBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Hay On Wye?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Hay On Wye. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one near me in Hay On Wye I like with open areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Hay On Wye suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?

If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Reduce the offer 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 may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.

I would like to sublet my leasehold apartment in Hay On Wye. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

The lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Hay On Wye do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Hay On Wye Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? Many Hay On Wye leasehold flats will have a service bill for maintenance of the block set on behalf of the management company. Where you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this liability, normally periodically during the year. This may be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge to be met yearly, this is usually not a significant amount, say about £25-£75 but you need to check as sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds. The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the lessees benefit from control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.