My wife and I are acquiring a newly built duplex in Malmesbury and my solicitor is telling me that she has to the bank to disclose incentives from the developer. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange and I have no desire to prolong matters. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. 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.

Me and my brother purchased a 4 bedroom Georgian property in Malmesbury. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Barclays . I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Malmesbury and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Malmesbury with a mortgage from Aldermore. The developers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about this extras as it may put at risk my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

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.

Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Malmesbury ahead of appointing lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may not give a mortgage on a flying freehold property.

It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Halifax. If you e-mail us we can investigate further via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Malmesbury. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Malmesbury. Before I get started I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Malmesbury - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I bought a ground floor flat in Malmesbury, conveyancing was carried out 7 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Malmesbury with an extended lease are worth £202,000. The ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2081

You have 56 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £29,500 and £34,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.