I have just started taking steps with the aim of porting my current homeowner home loan to a Buy to Let TSB mortgage. The bank has said that I require a lawyer as part of the process. I spoke to the same East Dean conveyancing firm who dealt with the legals when I initially acquired the property. The quote e-mailed to me of £550 has shocked me as I am not require purchase conveyancing - it’s just a straightforward remortgage.

The estimate does seem a tad steep. Where you are content to expend time scrutinising charges you may be able to decrease the fees slightly by as much as £100 plus VAT. On the other hand, if you were satisfied with the conveyancing the firm offered you mightlive to rue choosing an an untested conveyancer. If is important to be sure that the solicitor can act for TSB. You can utilise our search tool to locate a East Dean conveyancing firm on the TSB approved list of lawyers, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in East Dean.

We see that you have a post code search directory listing law firms on the Principality conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a commission if I appoint them for our own conveyancing in East Dean?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Principality conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in East Dean.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. East Dean is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in East Dean are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in East Dean you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in East Dean may decide 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 premises.

I was advised by a couple of local property agents in East Dean to choose a conveyancer on your site. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers rather than alternative conveyancing organisations?

We don’t give any commission for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in East Dean. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you pay the service charge as usual because all ground rent and maintenance payments will be apportioned on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer 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 invested in buying a 2 bed flat in East Dean, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in East Dean with an extended lease are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2089

With 65 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £13,300 and £15,400 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.