We are acquiring a brand new apartment in Washington and my lawyer is advising me that she is duty bound to the mortgage company to reveal incentives from the developer. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange and I have no desire to delay matters. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

Completed the sale of my flat in Washington last April yet the purchaser is whats apping daily to say their conveyancer is waiting to hear from mine. What should my lawyer have done now that I have sold?

Following your sale your conveyancer should send the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the purchaser's lawyers. If applicable, your conveyancer should also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been redeemed to the purchasers solicitors. There are no post completion formalities just for conveyancing in Washington.

We are purchasing a property and the conveyancer has referenced Chancel Repair to which the property could be obligated to contribute to given it’s proximity to the area of such a church. He has suggested insurance. Is this really appropriate for conveyancing in Washington

Unless a previous acquisition of the premises took place after 12 October 2013 you could assume that lawyers handling conveyancing in Washington to continue to recommend a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Washington is where the house is located. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Washington are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Washington you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Washington may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Washington. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the service charge as usual because all ground rent and maintenance charges should be allotted on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I purchased a ground floor flat in Washington, conveyancing was carried out October 2007. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Washington with an extended lease are worth £227,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2096

You have 71 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.