My fiancee and I are purchasing our first house. The lawyer has texted usto ask if we want to order supplemental conveyancing searches. We are really unsure what's recommended for conveyancing in Essex

The range of Essex conveyancing searches should be dictated entirely on the premises, the location, the likelihood of any of these risks, your knowledge of the region and risks, your overall appetite to risk. What matters is that you adequately comprehend what information each search could provide. Then you can make a decision if you personally think you need that search. Where you are unsure, ask your lawyer to advise.

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am new to the house moving as a first time buyer of a two bedroom flat in Essex. Do I receive the keys to the premises on the completion date from my conveyancer? If so, I will instruct a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Essex?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will arrange to send the purchase money to the vendor’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you should be called to collect the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

We previously appointed conveyancers with offices in Essex on the UBS solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a supplemental amount for handling the UBS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by UBS?

As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your lawyer may charge a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by UBS but by your Essex conveyancing practitioner. Some firms on the UBS panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

My wife and I have organised the release of further funds on our home loan from Kent Reliance as we intend to conduct renovations to our home in Essex. Are we obliged to select a high street Essex solicitor on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

Kent Reliance would not normally require a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Kent Reliance panel.

I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in Essex. Now, I need the documents but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate 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 Essex 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 decided to have a survey completed on a property in Essex in advance of instructing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks tend not give a mortgage on a flying freehold house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Essex. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Essex especially if they are familiar with such properties in Essex.

I'm remortgaging my existing property to a buy to let mortgage with Accord Mortgages Ltd and intend to use the remaining equity towards another property. The neighborhood we are interested in is Essex. Will your solicitors be able to act for both sets of lenders and link together the conveyances?

Do use our comparison tool on this site to check that the solicitors are approved by both banks. Having checked that they are the lawyer should be able to connect the two transactions but you should talk with you lawyer and make clear your expectations and requirements.