We are purchasing a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Berkeley who is on the Barclays solicitor panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Barclays . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Berkeley.

I am helping my sister sell her property in Berkeley. Will the solicitor order the EPC or do I organise this?

Following the abolition of Home Packs, energy assessments was left as a required part of selling a property. An energy assessment must be to hand prior to the property being marketed. This is not as aspect of the sale process that lawyers ordinarily arrange. If you are using a Berkeley conveyancing lawyer they may be able to arrange EPC’s given their relationships with reputable Berkeley assessors

I happen to be the single beneficiary of my late father’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Berkeley. The Berkeley property was put into my name in November. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship could be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the house in November. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The CML handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. How practical a view banks take of it, depend on the bank as this provision principally exists to capture subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.

My fiancee and I are in the throws of viewing apartments in Berkeley and I am about to put in an offer. Is it best to have a solicitor on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a mortgage with RBS.

It would be advisable to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the selling agent. As you are seeking a mortgage with RBS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the RBS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

I appreciate that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I require chancel insurance when acquiring a house in Berkeley? or I am told that there is a law dating back centuries that could mean that homeowners residing in a parish church boundary will be compelled to contribute towards repairs to the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this a legitimate concern for conveyancing in Berkeley?

Unless a previous purchase of the property took place post 12 October 2013 you could take it that conveyancing practitioners conducting conveyancing in Berkeley to continue to recommend a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.

Completion is due on our sale of a £300,000 apartment in Berkeley in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Berkeley?

For most leasehold sales in Berkeley conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

Answering conveyancing due diligence questions Where consent is required before sale in Berkeley Supplying insurance information Deeds of covenant upon sale Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Berkeley leasehold premises is £350. For Berkeley conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply answers.

Berkeley Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Be sure to discover if the the lease contains any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. For instance it is very common in Berkeley leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Berkeley. If you like the flatin Berkeley yet your dog is not allowed to move with you then you will be presented with a hard choice. Does the lease have onerous restrictions? You should be aware if it is fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. For most Berkeleylease extensions you would need to own the property for two years in order to be legally able to extend the lease.

My husband and I have an offer in principle from Accord Mortgages Ltd who said we could borrow up to £300k. When do we need to appoint a solicitor for conveyancing? Berkeley is where we plan to move to.

It would be wise to appoint a conveyancing practitioner now so that the conveyancer can open the ledger so they can do their ID checks etc. As and when you wish them to commence work they will seek a deposit normally about £225. That should generally be once you have the loan offer from the lender and survey report, but should you wish to expedite matters you can start quicker albeit risking some money.