The sellers of the home we are purchasing hired a conveyancing firm in Bosham who has suggested a exclusivity contract with a deposit two thousand pounds. Are such agreements appropriate for Bosham conveyancing transactions?

This kind of agreement is unusual in Bosham, conveyancers will often try and steer clients away from them as they divert attention from the primary objective, namely conveyancing and if you end up having your deposit forfeited then the lawyer is left exposed. Furthermore, there is no certainty that just because the seller has executed an exclusivity agreement they will sell to you. They may breach the contract if they receive a big enough financial inducement to do so because an aggrieved purchaser with the benefit of a exclusivity agreement will still be legally obliged to establish consequential losses from the breach and these may not equalise the extra amount that your vendor may obtain by breaching the agreement, no matter how morally reprehensible that may be.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one near me in Bosham I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Bosham for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer 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 could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.

We're novice buyers - agreed a price, yet the estate agent has warned us that the owners will only go ahead if we instruct their chosen conveyancers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family conveyancer who is accustomed to conveyancing in Bosham

We suspect that the owner is unaware of this request. Should the seller desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a genuine purchaser is going to damage their objectives. Speak to the vendors direct and make the point that (a)you are motivated buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you are unencumbered (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you will continue to appoint your preferred Bosham conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will provide their estate agent a commission or meet his conveyancing figures set by HQ.

I have recently realised that I have 62 years unexpired on my lease in Bosham. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Bosham.

I acquired a split level flat in Bosham, conveyancing was carried out August 2007. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Bosham with a long lease are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease finishes on 21st October 2089

With only 65 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £13,300 and £15,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

My partner and I are purchasing a first floor flat in Bosham. When we first instructed solicitor, they said that they were on all major UK bank panels. The financial adviser contacted us yesterday to advise that they are not on the Nationwide approved list. If it turns out to be true, what should we do? Should we simply choose a new solicitor that is on their approved list or should we pay for dual representation, with Nationwide selecting their own preferred solicitor.

When acquiring a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the buyer’s solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a solicitor has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the property lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the conveyancing practitioner has to meet. Some lenders now insist their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your lawyer should contact Nationwide to find out if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on Nationwide's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Bosham solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.