Me and my partner are purchasing our first house. The solicitor has messagedto enquire if we wish to take out supplemental conveyancing searches. Frankly we in the dark as to what's appropriate for conveyancing in Woking

The number and type of Woking conveyancing searches depends primarily on the premises, the location, the probability of any of these risks, your familiarity of the area and risks, your overall approach to risk. What matters is that you adequately comprehend what information each search could supply. Then you can make a decision if you personally think you need that search. Where you are unclear, ask the lawyer to guide you.

It is is a decade since I purchased my house in Woking. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down the title documents. Is this a major issue?

You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be kept by the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the conveyancers who handled the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Woking relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your home is unregistered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.

I am assisting my mother sell her house in Woking. Does the conveyancer arrange the energy performance certificate or should I organise this?

After the abolition of Home Packs, energy performance certificates remained a required part of selling a property. An energy performance certificate needs to be to hand before the property is marketed. This is not something that lawyers normally organise. If you are using a Woking conveyancing solicitor they might be willing to arrange EPC’s due to their relationships with reputable Woking providers

When it comes to mortgage companies such as Bank of Ireland, do Woking solicitors incur a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?

We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.

My offer on a detached house in Woking has been accepted, the sellers do however have a tied purchase. The vendors have put an offer on on an apartment, however it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other flats booked. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Woking. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage application with Coventry BS started?

It is usual to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (mortgage application is approx £1k, then survey, Woking conveyancing search charges, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your conveyancer is on the Coventry BS approved list. As to the next phase this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market many purchasers would apply for the mortgage with Coventry BS and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their conveyancing practitioner to proceed with the conveyancing in Woking.

Do commercial conveyancing searches reveal planned roadworks that could affect a commercial site in Woking?

Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in Woking will order a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers spend in investigating accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Woking. The search result sets out definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Woking.

For each commercial conveyancing transaction in Woking it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. Failure to identify developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately may result in delays to Woking commercial conveyancing transactions as well as pose a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not conducted for residential conveyancing in Woking.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Woking I like with a park and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Woking in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?

Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.