The Colchester conveyancing firm handling our Colchester conveyancing has uncovered a difference when comparing the information in the home valuation report and what is in the title deeds. My lawyer says that he is duty bound to ensure that the bank is OK with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my lawyer’s course or action right?

Your conveyancer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

Are all Colchester Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel?

A selection of banks and building societies now use CQS as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of firms.

How can we know in advance if a Colchester conveyancing solicitor on the Nottingham panel is any good?

When it comes to conveyancing in Colchester obtaining recommendations is a sensible starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one advertising the lowest fees. We would always suggest that you speak with the solicitor carrying out your transaction.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Colchester. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their conveyancing practitioner. I paid an advanced payment of £225. Shortly after, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Lloyds panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

My colleague recommended that if I am buying in Colchester I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Colchester conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Colchester around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Colchester Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Colchester.

I used Arc property Solicitors a few years ago for my conveyancing in Colchester. I now require my file but the law firm has closed. What do I do?

Do call 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 Colchester 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.

I have just appointed agents to market my basement flat in Colchester. Conveyancing has not commenced, but I have recently had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you clear the service charge as you normally would because all ground rent and maintenance invoices should be allotted on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I own a leasehold flat in Colchester, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2003. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Colchester with over 90 years remaining are worth £202,000. The ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2079

You have 56 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £29,500 and £34,000 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.