My stepmother pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Frimley there could be various restrictions prohibiting external alterations to a property. Is this right?

There are a number of properties in Frimley which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Frimley should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I'm the sole beneficiary of my late mum's will and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Frimley. The Frimley property was put into my name in December. I want to move. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my property ownership could be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the property in December. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs solicitors 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 caught by that. How sensible a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the bank as this provision is chiefly there to identify subsales or the flipping of properties.

After shopping around on the internet I have found a Frimley conveyancer having checked that they are on the RBS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

RBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually RBS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Frimley postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with RBS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Frimley.

My colleague recommended that where I am purchasing in Frimley I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Frimley conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Frimley around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Frimley Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Frimley.

I own a renovated Georgian house in Frimley. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Yorkshire Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Frimley and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.

My husband and I are novice buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the property agent informed us that the vendor will only go ahead if we instruct their chosen conveyancers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a high street conveyancer used to conveyancing in Frimley

It is unlikely the sellers are driving this. If they require ‘a quick sale', turning down a genuine buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Try to communicate with the vendors directly and make sure they understand (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances arranged © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to instruct your own,trusted Frimley conveyancing firm - rather thanthose that will earn the negotiator at the agency a kickback or achieve conveyancing targets pre-set by HQ.

My cousin is purchasing a basement flat in Frimley. He has received an estimate by the lawyer recommended by the selling agents totaling £1275 . It was seven years ago I sold and purchased a property and the bill was £just under five hundred pounds. Have fees really gone up that much?

What does the conveyancing estimate include? Is it just for the legal fees, or what you will be paying in total (for example Frimley searches, land registry fees, etc)