We are acquiring our first home. Our conveyancing practitioner has contact usto check if we wish to order additional conveyancing searches. We are really unsure what's recommended for conveyancing in Newbury

The number and type of Newbury conveyancing searches depends entirely on the premises, the location, the probability of any of these risks, your knowledge of the area and risks, your general approach to risk. What is important is that you properly understand what information the searches could provide. Then you can decide if you consider that you need that information. Where you are in doubt, ask the conveyancer to explain.

This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a garden flat in Newbury. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my solicitor? If so, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in Newbury?

On the day of completion you will not be required to go to the conveyancers office in Newbury. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to collect the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this occurs between 1 and 3pm.

My wife and I purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Newbury. We would like to convert the garage to an office at the property.Will legal work on the property include enquiries to ascertain if these alterations are prohibited?

Your property lawyer will check the deeds as conveyancing in Newbury can sometimes identify restrictions in the title documents which prevent certain changes or necessitated the consent of a 3rd party. Many additions need local authority planning permissions and approval in accordance building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. It would be sensible to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

Please help - my lawyer says that lack of right of way insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Newbury conveyancing?

The appropriate level of lack of right of way indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Halifax and The Mortgage Works. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.

Do commercial conveyancing searches disclose proposed roadworks that may affect a commercial estate in Newbury?

Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in Newbury will execute a SiteSolutions Highways report as it reduces the time that conveyancers invest in researching accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Newbury. The report provides definitive information on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Newbury.

For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Newbury it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately may cause delays to Newbury commercial conveyancing deals as well as present a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not carried out for domestic conveyancing in Newbury.

I am purchasing a new build house in Newbury with a mortgage from Barnsley Building Society. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not to tell my lawyer about the deal as it will jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.

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.

We own a leasehold flat in Newbury. Conveyancing was finished in 2010. I have read on numerous advice forums that I mustn’t let the the remaining lease term to fall too short. Why is that a problem?

Newbury domestic long term leases are for a set term - usually 99 years when they are first granted. However many flats in Newbury were constructed or converted 25 or more years ago and so these leases now have less than 80 years remaining. This may sound like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage institutions generally need leases to have a minimum of seventy five years left to adequate security. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are nearing 75 years. To maximise the marketability of your property you should be considering whether or not to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Please note that there are advantages to doing so before the lease reaches even 80 years as when the lease falls below eighty years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to escalate.