I have a mortgage with Lloyds for my property in Cottesmore. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Lloyds?

Your original mortgage agreement with Lloyds will provide that you need their approval in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Lloyds’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Lloyds directly. You need not do this via a Lloyds conveyancing panel solicitor.

About to purchase maisonette in Cottesmore. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Skipton conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Cottesmore lawyer is on the Skipton conveyancing panel.

I was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Aldermore. Is it usual for Aldermore to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Cottesmore is approved on their conveyancing panel? Aldermore have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Aldermore to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

A relative suggested that if I am buying in Cottesmore I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Cottesmore conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Cottesmore around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Cottesmore Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Cottesmore.

My wife and I purchased a 4 bedroom Victorian property in Cottesmore. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and National Westminster Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Cottesmore and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who completed the work.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Cottesmore is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Cottesmore are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Cottesmore you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Cottesmore may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Cottesmore where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Cottesmore conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

I bought a garden flat in Cottesmore, conveyancing having been completed December 2010. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in Cottesmore with a long lease are worth £176,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2105

With 80 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £7,600 and £8,800 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. 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. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.