My partner and I are planning to acquire a home in Ingatestone and have appointed a Ingatestone conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Britannia have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Ingatestone lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Ingatestone solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

There are a variety of conveyancing solicitors in Ingatestone but how do I know who's good?

It would be unwise to be swayed by the cheapest Ingatestone conveyancing quote. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of time.

I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Ingatestone. I have a mortgage agreed with Principality. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Principality, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Principality conveyancing panel.

Yorkshire BS have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a flat in Ingatestone has been agreed to, now what?

The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (be sure the property lawyers are on the bank’s approved list). Contact Yorkshire BS or your financial adviser and complete any appropriate forms. Yorkshire BS will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or vendor to book a time for the valuation to happen. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average ten days to get a mortgage offer. Yorkshire BS will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Ingatestone.

Various web forums that I have frequented warn that are the primary reason for obstruction in Ingatestone house deals. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Ingatestone.

I am purchasing my first flat in Ingatestone with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about the extras as it could impact my loan with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I am looking at a two flats in Ingatestone both have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Ingatestone is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Ingatestone conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Ingatestone, conveyancing having been completed 7 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Ingatestone with a long lease are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2089

With 65 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £13,300 and £15,400 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.