Me and my partner are buying a flat in Newquay. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we have to put money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our deposit?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

This question may be naive but I am unexperienced as a first time purchaser of a ground floor flat in Newquay. Do I collect the keys to the house on the completion date from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Newquay?

On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Newquay. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the completion advance to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be invited to receive the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.

I have a mortgage with Clydesdale for my property in Newquay. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Clydesdale?

Clydesdale must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Clydesdale’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Clydesdale will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Clydesdale directly. You need not do this via a Clydesdale conveyancing panel lawyer.

A friend suggested that if I am purchasing in Newquay I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your Newquay conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Newquay around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Newquay Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Newquay Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Newquay.

Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Newquay in advance of instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some lenders tend not grant a loan on this type of premises.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can look into this further with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Newquay. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Newquay to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.

How does the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my business premises in Newquay and how can you help?

The 1954 Act affords security of tenure to commercial leaseholders, granting the dueness to apply to court for a new tenancy and continue in occupation at the end of the lease term. There are limited grounds that a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are involved. We are happy to direct you to commercial conveyancing firms who use the act to your advantage and assist with commercial conveyancing in Newquay

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Newquay which have about 50 years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Newquay is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 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 a property 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 Newquay 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. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. 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 own a split level flat in Newquay, conveyancing was carried out 5 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Newquay with a long lease are worth £186,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2076

With just 52 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £29,500 and £34,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.