Is it necessary during the course of the conveyancing process to visit the offices of the solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will instruct a firm who offer conveyancing in St Andrews so that I can attend their offices if required.

These days conveyancing panel lawyers for mortgage companies carry out their communications through the post, e-mail or over the phone. This means that they can undertake the legal work for your home move no matter where you live in England or Wales. However you can check if you have the option of attending the offices of your conveyancing lawyer if you prefer.

My wife and I buying a end of terrace house in St Andrews. Our aim is to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will legal investigations on the property involve investigations to ascertain if these works are prohibited?

Your solicitor should check the registered title as conveyancing in St Andrews will occasionally reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit certain changes or need the consent of a 3rd party. Certain additions require local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Certain locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. It would be prudent to check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

I'm the single beneficiary of my late mum's estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in St Andrews. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in November. I plan to dispose of the property. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my property ownership could be treated the same way as though I had purchased the property in November. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The CML handbook obliges solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be impacted by that. How practical a view banks take of it, depend on the lender as this provision is chiefly there to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of properties.

I currently have a mortgage with Kent Reliance for my property in St Andrews. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending 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 Kent Reliance?

Your original mortgage agreement with Kent Reliance will provide that you need their approval in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Kent Reliance’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies 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 Kent Reliance directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Kent Reliance conveyancing panel solicitor.

I'm purchasing my first flat in St Andrews benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about this deal as it will impact my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.

I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for my conveyancing in St Andrews. I have discover a site which seems to have the perfect answer If there is a chance to get all this stuff done via email that would be ideal. Should I be concerned? What are the potential pitfalls?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in St Andrews both have about forty five years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in St Andrews is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. For most purchasers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property 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 premises 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 St Andrews 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. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. 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 am the registered owner of a garden flat in St Andrews, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in St Andrews with over 90 years remaining are worth £222,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2095

With only 71 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.