My fiance and I are planning to buy a flat in Kimbolton and have instructed a Kimbolton conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Kimbolton conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal 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 bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Kimbolton solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

We note that you have a post code search directory identifying firms on the conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I retain them for our own conveyancing in Kimbolton?

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

I am purchasing a new build house in Kimbolton with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my lawyer about the extras as it will jeopardize my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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 have been pointed in your direction by numerous selling agents in Kimbolton to select a property lawyer using your seach tool. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to promote your site over a competitor’s?

We don’t make any referral fee for sending work our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission as members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Kimbolton. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is discharge the maintenance contribution as you normally would because all rents and maintenance charges will 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 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 am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Kimbolton, conveyancing was carried out 1995. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Kimbolton with an extended lease are worth £165,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 50

You have 50 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £36,100 and £41,800 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information 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 without first getting professional advice.