Much to our surprise we have been advised by our IFA that my Swanage solicitor is not on the lender Solicitor panel. What can I do to check?

The first thing you need to do is to contact your Swanage lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to inform you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Swanage conveyancing practice that is on the approved list of lawyers for your mortgage company.

My partner and I changing mortgage lender for our flat in Swanage with HSBC. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of HSBC had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

I used Wolstenholmes a few years past for my conveyancing in Swanage. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?

Do 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 Swanage of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for some conveyancing in Swanage. I've land on a web site which looks to be the ideal answer If there is a chance to get all this stuff done via web that would be preferable. Do I need to be wary? What should out be looking out for?

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?

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Swanage. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Swanage who previously acted has now retired. Any advice?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Swanage conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I invested in buying a basement flat in Swanage, conveyancing having been completed in 2010. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in Swanage with over 90 years remaining are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2098

With just 74 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.