My previous solicitor has sent a quote for £1700 for no sale no fee conveyancing in Sharnbrook. I am selling a Victorian property for £200,000. Is this expensive? Is it above what I should be paying for conveyancing in Sharnbrook?

The charges are a tad high. If you shop around you could trim some of the cost by perhaps a hundred pounds. On the other hand, you maylive to rue opting for an an unknown solicitor. Remember to ensure that the solicitor can also act for your mortgage company. Do utilise our comparison tool to find a Sharnbrook conveyancing practice on the banks approved list of lawyers which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Sharnbrook.

I'm spending time looking at flats in Sharnbrook and I am about to put in an offer. Is it sensible to have a conveyancing practitioner on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a mortgage with HSBC.

You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. As you are seeking a mortgage with HSBC, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

It is unclear whether my bank requires a lease extension. I have called my Sharnbrook bank branch on various occasions and was advised it wasn't a problem and they will lend. My Sharnbrook conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they would not lend in accordance with their specific requirements. I simply don't know who is right.

Your lawyer has to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook Part 2 conditions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.

I have instructed a Sharnbrook property lawyer having checked that they are on the Santander conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Sharnbrook surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I used Arc property Solicitors a few years ago for my conveyancing in Sharnbrook. Now, I need my files however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Sharnbrook of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Sharnbrook. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Sharnbrook

Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.

Last January I purchased a leasehold house in Sharnbrook. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Sharnbrook Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Make sure you find out if the the lease contains any adverse restrictions in the lease. For example it is very common in Sharnbrook leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Sharnbrook. If you like the apartmentin Sharnbrook yet your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be presented with a difficult decision. The majority of Sharnbrook leasehold flats will incur a service bill for maintenance of the block levied by the landlord. Should you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this contribution, normally periodically accross the year. This can vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a large figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to check as sometimes it could be surprisingly expensive. In the main the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the service charges, although there some managing agents in Sharnbrook ask tenants to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance.