My previous conveyancer has quoted £1350 for freehold conveyancing in Plymstock. I am looking to sell a newly refurbished property for £150,000. This appears too much. Is it in excess of what I should be paying for conveyancing in Plymstock?

The costs illustration is slightly on the high side. If you shop around you might decrease the fees slightly by perhaps a hundred pounds. That being said, you mightlive to rue opting for an an unknown solicitor. Remember to enquire the solicitor can act for your bank. Do employ our comparison tool to choose a Plymstock conveyancing company on the lender’s conveyancing panel which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Plymstock.

The Plymstock conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my purchase in Plymstock have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel and my preferred Plymstock lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What should be my next steps?

If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the TSB conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.

This question may be naive but I am unexperienced as FTB of a ground floor flat in Plymstock. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If so, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Plymstock?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the purchase money to the seller's lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to receive the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.

I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Plymstock. I have a mortgage offer with HSBC. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with HSBC, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the HSBC conveyancing panel.

Our offer on a property in Plymstock has been accepted, the vendors do nevertheless have an associated purchase. The sellers have put an offer on a flat, however it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have selected a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Plymstock. What should be my next step? When do I get the mortgage application with TSB going?

It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Plymstock conveyancing search charges, etc). The first course of action is to check that your property lawyer is on the TSB approved list. As to the next phase this very much depends on the specifics of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market the majority of home buyers would apply for a home loan with TSB and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their conveyancer to press on with searches.

I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Plymstock before instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will not give a mortgage on this type of premises.

It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Plymstock. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Plymstock especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Plymstock.

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Plymstock. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Plymstock - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 acquired a basement flat in Plymstock, conveyancing was carried out in 2009. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in Plymstock with over 90 years remaining are worth £265,000. The ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2101

With just 76 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £8,600 and £9,800 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.