My nephew is in the process of securing a newly built flat in Oldbury with a mortgage from Barclays. His solicitor has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?

The document is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Barclays conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Barclays conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

We are selling our apartment in Oldbury. Does the solicitor need to be required to be on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently in recent years.

What does a local search tell me about the house we're purchasing in Oldbury?

Oldbury conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company for example Searchflow The local search is essential in every Oldbury conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic sections.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one close by in Oldbury I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Oldbury for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Oldbury. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Oldbury, conveyancing was carried out in 2005. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Oldbury with an extended lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2098

With 74 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.