Just been in touch with my conveyancing solicitor in Freshwater Bay who acted for me two years ago asking for a conveyancing estimate based on an identical type of house sale & purchase (a leasehold premises and a freehold property) of almost identical values with a home loan from Barclays Direct. I am now being quoted double. Am I right to be tempted to shop around for an alternative conveyancer?

The quote is fractionally on the high side. Where you are willing to expend time contrasting charges you might decrease the fees marginally by as much as £100 plus VAT. That being said, assuming were satisfied with the assistance the firm provided you mightlive to rue choosing an a cheaper solicitor. Don't forget to ensure the firm can represent Barclays Direct. Do employ our search tool to locate a Freshwater Bay conveyancing firm on the Barclays Direct member panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Freshwater Bay.

My lawyer has discovered a a problem with the lease for the apartment we are purchasing in Freshwater Bay. The seller’s lawyers have put forward title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our property lawyer says that he must be satisfied that the lender is willing to move forward with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?

The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancing practitioner will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

At what point does exchange of contracts take place for purchase conveyancing in Freshwater Bay and do I need to attend the conveyancers office?

Where you are local to our conveyancing solicitors in Freshwater Bay you are welcome to come in to sign contracts. However, the lender approved solicitors we work with offer countrywide coverage for conveyancing and provide as equally diligent and professional a job for you when dealing with you digitally. The executing of the contract is not the point of no return. Signing on the dotted line simply enables the firm to exchange contracts when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where an extended "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Freshwater Bay)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.

Is it the case that all Freshwater Bay CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Santander conveyancing panel?

It is true that some lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to join their panels.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Freshwater Bay. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £225. Not long after, the conveyancer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging 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.

RBS have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a property in Freshwater Bay has been accepted, what are the next steps?

The estate agent will wish to be informed of your conveyancer's details (make sure the lawyers are on the lender’s panel). Telephone RBS or the broker and finalise any relevant documentation. RBS will appoint a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to book a time for the valuation to occur. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. RBS will issue the offer to you and your solicitors. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Freshwater Bay.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Freshwater Bay where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Freshwater Bay conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

I own a 1 bedroom flat in Freshwater Bay, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Freshwater Bay with a long lease are worth £227,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2096

With 71 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.