I am purchasing a house mortgage free in Highbridge. I have been living for the previous 20 years in Highbridge. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?

If you not getting a mortgage, then all but one or two of the Highbridge conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will try and steer you, no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches done, but she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to dispose of the house at a future date, it will be of interest to your prospective buyer what the searches disclose. Sometimes premises with functional issues can still throw up negative search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Highbridge should provide you some constructive advice concerning this.

Completed the sale of my flat in Highbridge last March yet the purchaser is e-mailing me to say her lawyer is waiting to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale legalities now that I have sold?

Post completion of your house sale your lawyer should deliver the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. If applicable, your solicitor must also confirm that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been paid off to the buyers solicitors. There are no post completion procedures unique to conveyancing in Highbridge.

My wife and I are purchasing a flat in Highbridge. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a lawyer? On completion day we will need to deposit 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.

I am assisting my niece sell her property in Highbridge. Does the conveyancing solicitor order the energy assessment or it is for the seller to coordinate?

After the demise of Home Packs, EPC’s was left as a required element of moving property. An energy assessment needs to be to hand prior to the property being advertised. It is not as aspect of the sale process that law firms ordinarily arrange. Where you are using a Highbridge conveyancing practitioner they might be able to arrange energy performance certificates given their contacts with long established local energy assessors

A colleague advised me that in purchasing a property in Highbridge there could be a number of restrictions prohibiting external changes to a property. Is this right?

We are aware of anumerous of properties in Highbridge which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Highbridge should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Highbridge ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor advised that some banks may not grant a loan on a flying freehold property.

It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you contact us we can investigate further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Highbridge. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Highbridge. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Highbridge who acted for me is not around. What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Highbridge conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I inherited a 1 bedroom flat in Highbridge, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Highbridge with a long lease are worth £181,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2076

With 51 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £30,400 and £35,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.