I am buying a house without a mortgage in Cotswolds. I have been residing for the previous 20 years in Cotswolds. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I have knowledge of the area and road intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?

If you not getting a home loan, then almost all of the Cotswolds conveyancing searches are optional. Your conveyancer will try and sway you, no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches done, but she is duty bound to take that path of guidance. One thing to bear in mind; if you are going to sell the house in the future, it will likely be be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. There are plenty of instances where properties with apparent issues can still throw up unpredicted search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Cotswolds will be able to give you some constructive advice here.

It is is a decade since I acquired my property in Cotswolds. Conveyancing solicitors have just been retained on the sale but I am unable to locate my title documents. Is this a major issue?

Don’t worry too much. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be with your lender or they could be archived with the conveyancers who oversaw your purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers procuring current official copies of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Cotswolds relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it is more problematic but is resolvable.

Our lender has recommended a law firm on their panel based in Cotswolds but I would rather use a conveyancing lawyer in Cotswolds or nearer to where I live. Are you able to help?

Not all Cotswolds conveyancing solicitors are listed all banks conveyancing panel. Use the above search tool to find a Cotswolds conveyancing conveyancer on the on the mortgage company panel.

We previously selected conveyancing lawyers based in Cotswolds on the Lloyds solicitor panel. They have just billed me a separate sum for the legal aspects of the Lloyds mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Lloyds?

Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your lawyer is entitled to levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Lloyds but by your Cotswolds conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the Lloyds panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Cotswolds. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.

I had an offer accepted on a property in Cotswolds on 15/9/2025, valuation was booked 2 days after, received a clean bill of health. Solicitor retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Skipton and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Skipton to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I own a leasehold flat in Cotswolds. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Cotswolds who previously acted has long since retired. Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Cotswolds conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Cotswolds, conveyancing having been completed in 2004. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable flats in Cotswolds with over 90 years remaining are worth £227,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2097

With only 72 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.