In the event thatI was to acquire a simple residential housein Arley for cash and dispense with a survey and no conveyancing searches how much could I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Arley?

The only saving you would achieve is the Arley conveyancing searches. Your conveyancing practitioner still be obliged to do everything else - money laundering, correspond with your sellers conveyancing practitioner, SDLT return, register the title etc. You might save a bit for them not having to register a charge but it won't be meaningful.

We wanted to use a property lawyer in Arley for our house purchase. Our financial adviser informed us that our bank Barclays won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?

Banks tend to restrict either the category or the volume of conveyancing practices on their member panel. A common example of such criteria being that a law practice must not be a sole practitioner. As well as restricting the profile of firm, some have limited the number of solicitor practices they use to act for them. You should note that Barclays have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Barclays Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the reduction of solicitor panels since 2008 even though there remains mixed opinions concerning the extent of solicitor engagement in some of that fraud. Data from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms, including some in or near Arley only carry out one or two conveyances per annum.

I am looking for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Arley I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, however it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Arley in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?

Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

I wish to rent out my leasehold flat in Arley. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

A lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Arley do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

I purchased a 1st floor flat in Arley, conveyancing was carried out in 2004. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Arley with a long lease are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2093

You have 69 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

My fiance and I are planning to purchase a three room ground floor flatin Arley with a home loan from a lender. We would like to retain our solicitor in Arley but our bank advise he's not approved on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the our lender panel solicitors or stay with our Arley solicitor and incur the extra fees for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. The lender mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that solicitors will on the mortgage company's conveyancing panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels, including almost all conveyancing solicitors in Arley : a mortgagee could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your lender.