My fiance’s dad is a solicitor. I suspect that I'll be able to get preferential fee for conveyancing, However if that does not come materialise, what kind of costs should I be paying for conveyancing in Woking?

You should contrast pricing. Do use our search tool on this page. You will notice that amounts seem to vary but service levels do are distinct between law firms as is the case with most professions.

My wife and I are buying a apartment in Woking. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? On completion day we have to send our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

Have just purchased a repossessed house at auction in Woking. Conveyancing is needed. What happens now?

Now that you are to all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you will need to choose a conveyancing practitioner quickly as you will have a pending a drop dead date to complete the purchase. An auction property will have a bespoke auction pack. This will include most,if not all of the paperwork that your lawyer will need. If you have purchased leasehold premises the legal pack should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork specific to a leasehold property. You should hand this to the lawyer instructed by you at the earliest opportunity. You also need to ensure that that you have the requisite funding in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

When it comes to lenders such as RBS, do Woking conveyancing practitioners have to pay a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?

We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.

Should our solicitor be asking questions concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Woking.

Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers dealing with homes in Woking. There are those who purchase a property in Woking, fully aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Lawyers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous searches that may be initiated by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which should figure out the risks in Woking. The conventional set of information sent to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard inquiry of the seller to determine whether the premises has historically flooded. In the event that the premises has been flooded in past which is not disclosed by the seller, then a buyer may bring a claim for damages resulting from an inaccurate reply. A buyer’s solicitors should also carry out an enviro report. This will disclose whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries should be conducted.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Woking?

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Woking. 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…’

I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Woking I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Woking for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign 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 solicitor concerning this matter.