Why would I instruct a Rushden conveyancing company given that online conveyancers are so much cheaper?

By all means make sure that you compare conveyancing costs in Rushden and you should seek a competitive fee calculation but don’t become consumed with scouring the internet for the lowest priced Rushden conveyancer. Finding the right conveyancer can be the distinction between a seamless and a distressing move. It is important that you ensure that you have expert advice from a specialist conveyancer. An e-mail can never replace a phone call and can never replicate a one to one appointment. The firms that we work with will appoint you a qualified and experienced conveyancing solicitor that will deal with your conveyancing from start to finish, giving the sort of personalised service that you will never get with an internet conveyancer. He or She will keep you updated as to any developments and keep you informed. If you ever need to contact the firm you will know who you need to speak to and we'll endeavour to make sure that you are kept fully informed.

I am the single recipient of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in Rushden. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I now wish to sell up. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my property ownership could be treated the same way as though I had purchased the property in December. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The CML handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be caught by that. Most lenders would take a pragmatic view as this clause chiefly exists to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of properties.

I currently have a mortgage with HSBC for my property in Rushden. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform HSBC?

You must advise HSBC in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of HSBC’s mortgage conditions. It may be that HSBC will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact HSBC directly. You need not do this via a HSBC conveyancing panel firm.

After shopping around on the internet I have found a Rushden conveyancing practitioner having made sure that they are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham 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 solicitor 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 Rushden postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Rushden.

My relative suggested that if I am buying in Rushden I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Rushden conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Rushden around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Rushden Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Rushden.

My wife and I have a semi-detached Edwardian property in Rushden. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Alliance & Leicester . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Rushden and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.

I have just appointed agents to market my garden flat in Rushden. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the maintenance contribution as usual given that all ground rent and maintenance payments will be apportioned on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I bought a 2 bed flat in Rushden, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Rushden with over 90 years remaining are worth £227,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2096

With 71 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.