We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Cardiff Bay for our house purchase. Our financial adviser informed us that our mortgage company National Westminster Bank won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?

Banks in the main restrict either the category or the number of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such criteria being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have reduced the amount of firms they use to act for them. You should note that National Westminster Bank have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of National Westminster Bank Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of solicitor panels since 2008 even though there are mixed views about the extent of solicitor engagement in some of that fraud. Data from the Land Registry reveal that hundreds of law firms, including some in or near Cardiff Bay only conduct very few conveyances per annum.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Cardiff Bay I like with open areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Cardiff Bay for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could 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 with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.

Given that I will soon spend over three hundred thousand on a terraced house in Cardiff Bay I would like to talk to a solicitor concerning thehouse move in advance of appointing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?

Absolutely - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the conveyancer who will be conducting your conveyancing in Cardiff Bay.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is an important individual, not a file reference. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are calculated and presented to you for your conveyancing in Cardiff Bay should be the figure that you end up paying.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Cardiff Bay. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Cardiff Bay should include some of the following:

The landlord’s rights to access the flat. You should be made aware that your landlord has rights of access as well as be informed how much notice must be provided. Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property? Who has the liability for repairing the window frames The length of the lease term. You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

I bought a 1 bedroom flat in Cardiff Bay, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Cardiff Bay with a long lease are worth £195,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2088

With 63 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £16,200 and £18,600 as well as 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 provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

I own a leasehold flat in Cardiff Bay. Conveyancing was finalised in 2009. I have heard that I mustn’t allow the lease length fall too low. Is this right?

Cardiff Bay domestic long term leases are for a set period - usually ninety nine years when they started. However a significant flats in Cardiff Bay were built or converted 20 or more years ago and so such leases now have under 80 years remaining. That may seem like plenty of time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders tend to require leases to have a minimum of seventy five years left to adequate security. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are nearing 75 years. To optimize the saleability of your property you should be considering whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. Please note that there are significant benefits to doing so before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease is less than 80 years the amount to be paid to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.