I am hoping to move into my new home in Bridport next Friday. My conveyancing practitioner now wants me to supply her with evidence of content and building insurance for the property as as she informs me that she is duty bound to validate that it is in order for the lender. What does the insurance need to cover?

All property lawyers on acting for lenders would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s Part 2 conditions. These obligations are not specific to conveyancing in Bridport.

My partner and I are planning on selling our home in Bridport and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Bridport conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used a nationwide conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Bridport. We have lived in Bridport for six years we know that this is a non issue. Should we contact our local Authority to seek clarification that there is no issue.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)

I have justbeen informed that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Bridport for a purchase of a freehold house 18 months ago. How can I check that the property is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?

The easiest method to see if the property is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Bridport conveyancing specialists.

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Bridport. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Bridport - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Bridport Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

How is the lease structured? Most Bridport leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the freeholder. Should you purchase the flat you will have to pay this liability, normally in instalments throughout the year. This could differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a significant amount, say around £25-£75 but you should to check it because sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds.

We have an offer in principle from TSB who have advised we could borrow up to £218k. At what point do we need to appoint a lawyer for conveyancing? Bridport is where we plan to move to.

You can instruct a lawyer now and ask them to open a file for you. This will trigger: 1) the estate agent to issue a Sales Memorandum to the relevant parties 2) the seller’s conveyancing practitioner to send out the draft contract. That being said, do not ask your solicitor to start searches until you receive your valuation report from TSB and you are happy to move forward.