My husband and I are planning to purchase a home in Burghfield Common and have appointed a Burghfield Common conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Halifax have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Burghfield Common lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Burghfield Common solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

My wife and I are selling our house in Burghfield Common and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. A high street Burghfield Common conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers instructed a web based conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Burghfield Common. We have lived in Burghfield Common for six years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to get clarification that there is no issue.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor already. Are they able to advise? You must 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 life insurance to cover that same illness)

I decided to have a survey completed on a house in Burghfield Common in advance of retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor has said that some banks will not give a mortgage on this type of premises.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Burghfield Common. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

My husband and I are new on the property ladder - had an offer accepted, yet the property agent told us that the vendor will only move forward if we use the agent's recommended lawyers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family conveyancer used to conveyancing in Burghfield Common

It is improbable the owners are behind this. Should the owner want ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Bypass the agents and go straight to the owners and explain that (a)you are motivated purchasers (b)you are ready to go, with finances arranged © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you are going to appoint your preferred Burghfield Common conveyancing solicitors - as opposed tothose that will provide the estate agent a referral fee or hit his conveyancing figures pre-set by HQ.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Burghfield Common with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Burghfield Common can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
Many freeholders or Management Companies in Burghfield Common levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Burghfield Common. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved. If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Burghfield Common state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.

I inherited a 2 bed flat in Burghfield Common, conveyancing having been completed May 1995. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable properties in Burghfield Common with a long lease are worth £185,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2084

With only 60 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £20,000 and £23,000 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.