My husband and I are buying a brand new flat in Leeswood and my solicitor is informing me that she is duty bound to the bank to disclose incentives from the seller. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange contracts and my preference is not to prolong matters. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

I used Action Conveyancing a few years ago for my conveyancing in Leeswood. I now require my file however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

Do 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 Leeswood 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 have been pointed in your direction by numerous property agents in Leeswood to choose a solicitor on your site. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to market your lawyers over another?

We refuse to offer any commission for sending work to this site. We found it would be just too difficult a fee because a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Leeswood garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Leeswood conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Leeswood do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

I am the registered owner of a split level flat in Leeswood, conveyancing was carried out in 2007. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Leeswood with over 90 years remaining are worth £195,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2088

You have 63 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £16,200 and £18,600 as well as professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. 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 should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

I'm selling a apartment in Leeswood. I can find my conveyancer's company on the Law Society's list, but I can't locate my lawyer's name as listed on the regulator's website. Should I be concerned?

Not every individual in the practice must be listed by the regulator. Provided there is a manager qualified to 'oversee' the transaction, the actual day-to-day activity can be conducted by unlicensed staff.