I have given 2 months notice to my current landlord and must leave my rented apartment in Winchcombe by the end of next month. Conveyancing for my house purchase is progressing. Can I complete in six weeks as I wish to avoid having to move into short term accommodation?

It is unwise to serve notice for your lease until your lawyer suggests that you should. If you have not already done so, speak to your solicitor and ask them to they seek the assistance the other solicitors, try to a target completion date that everyone will work to achieve

Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Winchcombe is more expensive?

In short, leasehold conveyancing in Winchcombe and elsewhere usually involve extra work compared to freehold transactions. This includes reviewing the lease, corresponding with the landlord about serving appropriate notices, securing up-to-date service charge and management information, securing the freeholder’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – no matter how many different leaseholders have owned the lease since it was first entered into.

I am buying a 3 bedroom semi in Winchcombe. We would like to convert the garage to a playroom at the house.Will legal conveyancing on the property involve checks to ascertain if these works are permitted?

Your solicitor will check the deeds as conveyancing in Winchcombe will sometimes identify restrictions in the title documents which prohibit certain alterations or necessitated the consent of another owner. Some additions require local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Many locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. It would be sensible to check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Winchcombe. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. A couple of days later, the conveyancer called me to say that they were not on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Lloyds panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

At last I have had an offer on a flat in Winchcombe accepted, the vendors do however have a dependent purchase. The sellers have offered on on an apartment, but it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other flats booked. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Winchcombe. What do I do now? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Barclays?

It is understandable to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Winchcombe conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you should check that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Barclays approved list. Concerning the next phase this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market some buyers would apply for the mortgage with Barclays and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancer to move forward with the conveyancing in Winchcombe.

I am buying a new build apartment in Winchcombe. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.

Here are examples of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Winchcombe

Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Please supply a car parking plan. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided.

Me and my partner are buying a leasehold property in Winchcombe. Conveyancing estimates are coming in at around £1800. Does that seem right?

The average fee last year for conveyancing in Winchcombe was £1,500 excluding SDLT and Land Registry fees.