It is a dozen years since I acquired my home in Reddish. Conveyancing lawyers have just been instructed on the sale but I can't locate my title deeds. Is this a problem?

Don’t worry too much. First there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the lawyers who acted in the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Reddish relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your home is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.

I used Wolstenholmes a few years past for my conveyancing in Reddish. I now require my papers however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Reddish of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

What does commercial conveyancing in Reddish cover?

Commercial conveyancing in Reddish covers a wide range of services, provided by regulated solicitors, relating to business property. For instance, this area of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more commonly, the assignment of existing leases or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial loans and the termination of leases.

My wife and I may need to rent out our Reddish ground floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Reddish conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your last Reddish conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I bought a split level flat in Reddish, conveyancing was carried out 6 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent flats in Reddish with an extended lease are worth £202,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2083

With just 57 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £28,500 and £33,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

We are FTB’s just having agreed a price on a property in Reddish, and are about to get solicitors appointed. I have used the various comparison based websites and the fee estimates are from all across the country. Is it necessary to have a Reddish property lawyer local to your potential house? We are willing to do all the communicating over the web, but I assume at some point we may need to physically go into the lawyer's office to sign documents?

The lawyer does not need to be in Reddish, but choosing local means that you have the option to attend their offices if you need to, for instance, if a signature is immediately necessary. Also, a Reddish solicitor is likely to be familiar with local agents and (if the vendor has instructed a local conveyancer) with them, which should help smooth the process.