My husband and I are buying a newly constructed apartment in Helsby and my solicitor is informing me that she is duty bound to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the seller. The Estate Agents are hassling me to sign contracts and I would rather not prolong the conveyancing. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

What does a local search reveal concerning the property I am purchasing in Helsby?

Helsby conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for instance Onsearch The local search plays a central role in most Helsby conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any nasty surprises after you move into your property. The search should supply data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic headings.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Helsby. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.

Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Helsby

Please supply a car parking plan. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents.

Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Helsby before retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions for example to Halifax. If you call us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Helsby. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Helsby especially if they are acquainted with such properties in Helsby.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Helsby both have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorates and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field.

I own a basement flat in Helsby, conveyancing having been completed in 2003. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Helsby with over 90 years remaining are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2083

You have 59 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £20,900 and £24,200 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.