The solicitor who assisted with my last purchase has sent a quote for £1350 for no move no fee conveyancing in Chesterfield. I’m looking to sell a newly refurbished house for £225,000. Are these estimated fees excessive? Is it above the average fee for conveyancing in Chesterfield?

The estimate does seem marginally overpriced. If you shop around you might get the conveyancing a bit cheaper by as much as a hundred pounds. On the other hand, you couldcome to rue choosing an a cheaper lawyer. Remember to check that the solicitor can also act for your lender. Do employ our comparison tool to get a quote a Chesterfield conveyancing company on the lender’s conveyancing panel which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Chesterfield.

It is 10 years ago since I purchased my house in Chesterfield. Conveyancing lawyers have now been retained on the sale but I am unable to track down my title documents. Is this a major issue?

Don’t worry too much. First the deeds may be retained by the mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the conveyancers who handled the purchase. Secondly in all probability the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Chesterfield relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.

We are purchasing a flat in Chesterfield. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a conveyancer? On completion day we have to put funds into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our money?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

It is not clear whether my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Chesterfield building society branch on a couple of occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they will lend. My Chesterfield conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they will not lend in accordance with their specific requirements. Who do I believe?

Your lawyer must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook Part 2 provisions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Chesterfield. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £200. Shortly after, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Clydesdale 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 Clydesdale 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.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Chesterfield?

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Chesterfield. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I'm purchasing a new build house in Chesterfield benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my lawyer about this deal as it could affect my mortgage with HSBC Bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.