I sincerely hope you can help me. My St Clears solicitor is assuring me that he is legally obliged toconduct St Clears conveyancing searches stemming from the fact thatthe firm are on the Lloydsconveyancing panel. Is this really necessary?

You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with a lender your property lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your solicitor would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook specifications . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out St Clears conveyancing searches.

Do all mortgage companies provide you with an approved list of St Clears conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the UBS conveyancing panel?

St Clears conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the UBS conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from UBS directly.

We're novice buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the selling agent informed us that the vendor will only move forward if we instruct their preferred solicitors as they need a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a high street solicitor with experience of conveyancing in St Clears

We suspect that the owner is not behind this requirement. If they desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious purchaser is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Contact the owners directly and explain that (a)you are serious buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to appoint your own,trusted St Clears conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will provide their estate agent a referral fee or meet his conveyancing figures demanded by senior management.

I work for a busy estate agency in St Clears where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local St Clears conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in St Clears, conveyancing was carried out in 2008. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in St Clears with an extended lease are worth £196,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2089

With only 64 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £15,200 and £17,600 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered 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 getting professional advice.

My mother and father cant seem to find their St Clears land registry title on the online search facility. They have a vague recollection back in the 70’s when they bought the house there were complications concerning the address not being identified on some systems.

The vast majority of residences in St Clears should show up. Have you endevoured to search to just the postcode. Usually it will reveal all the properties within that postcode. Where registered it will be there with a title number. If they bought back in the 70’s it's conceivable it may be not yet registered. The address may still be revealed but with the title number identified as 'na'. In this scenario you will need to find the original title papers which might be with your parent’s bank.