My wife and I are buying a apartment in Walsingham. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a lawyer? On the day of competition we have to send funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

My wife and I buying a detached bungalow in Walsingham. The intention is to an extension at the rear at the property.Will legal investigations on the property include checks to ascertain if these alterations were previously refused?

Your property lawyer will check the deeds as conveyancing in Walsingham will sometimes reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit categories of works or necessitated the permission of a 3rd party. Some works require local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Many locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. You should check these things with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.

I have a mortgage with Aldermore for my property in Walsingham. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Aldermore?

Your original mortgage agreement with Aldermore will provide that you need their approval before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Aldermore 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 Aldermore directly. You need not do this via a Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Walsingham 5 years ago are no longer around. Will I be able to sell the house?

Assuming the title is registered the details of your proprietorship will be evidenced by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is easy to execute a search at the Land Registry, locate your property and order current copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for £20 inclusive of VAT.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one close by in Walsingham I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it's only got 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Walsingham in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?

Should you need a home loan that many years will likely be an issue. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.

We're first time buyers - had an offer accepted, but the property agent has warned us that the seller will only go ahead if we use the agent's preferred solicitors as they need an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a high street conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Walsingham

We suspect that the owner is not behind this requirement. If they want ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated purchaser is not the way to achieve this. Contact the owners directly and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you are going to appoint your preferred Walsingham conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a referral fee or hit his conveyancing targets demanded by HQ.

Last December I purchased a leasehold house in Walsingham. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Walsingham, conveyancing was carried out August 1997. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Walsingham with a long lease are worth £190,000. The ground rent is £65 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2085

With only 61 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £19,000 and £22,000 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.