I have justbecome aware that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Shirehampton for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 12 months ago. How can I check that my home is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?

The easiest way to see if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Shirehampton conveyancing specialists.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Shirehampton with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not move on the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about this side-deal as it may affect my mortgage with The Royal Bank of Scotland. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Shirehampton I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 61 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Shirehampton for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?

If you need a home loan that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

Should I be suspicious about brokers that I am dealing with are recommending an internet conveyancing firm rather than a local Shirehampton conveyancing company?

As is the case with many professional services, often referrals from family and friends can be extremely useful or valuable. Nevertheless there are lots of players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and lenders may recommend solicitors to appoint. Sometimes the solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but sometimes there might be a financial incentive behind the endorsement. You are free to choose your preferred conveyancer. However, bear in mind that some lenders specify a panel list of lawyers you have to use for the mortgage related work in your home move.

Is planning permission needed to split a house into a couple of appartments in Shirehampton? This has been carried out to a house opposite to my home in Shirehampton and was ignorant of it happening until after the works were done.

Planning consent is needed for splitting a single dwelling in Shirehampton into apartments but possibly not for reverting once again to single dwelling-house so, in answer to your question, yes,a it is required.