My best friend’s step-father is a conveyancing practitioner. I suspect that I will receive preferential fee for conveyancing, However if that does not come through, what kind of costs would I typically be looking at for conveyancing in Dartmouth?

Do contrast pricing. Do use our search tool on this page. The quotes may vary but the service one can expect are distinct between conveyancers as is true with the vast majority of professional services.

My wife and I are refinancing our apartment in Dartmouth with Principality. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Principality conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Principality conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Principality. This is solely used to protect Principality if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Principality had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

A relative informed me that in purchasing a property in Dartmouth there could be a number of restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to a property. Is this right?

There are a number of properties in Dartmouth which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Dartmouth should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

We had instructed conveyancers based in Dartmouth on the Coventry BS solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a supplemental fee for dealing with the Coventry BS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Coventry BS?

Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your solicitor may charge a fee for this. The fee is not set by Coventry BS but by your Dartmouth property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Coventry BS panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some firms incorporate it on their overall fee.

My wife and I are in the throws of viewing houses in Dartmouth and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a property lawyer appointed at this stage? I am planning to take a home loan with Nationwide.

You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the estate agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Nationwide, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.

I opted to have a survey done on a house in Dartmouth prior to instructing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not grant a loan on such a property.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements from Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Dartmouth. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Dartmouth. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have recently had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is clear the invoice as usual given that all rents and maintenance payments should be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Dartmouth - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

What is the yearly service fee and ground rent? You should want to find out as much as you can regarding the company managing the block as they can either make life much easier or uncomfortable. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues like the tidiness of the communal areas. Don't be shy to ask prospective neighbours what they think of their management. On a final note, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the appropriate party and specifically what it includes. How is the lease structured?