I am buying a house for cash in Sawston. I have been living for the previous twelve years in Sawston. Conveyancing searches are expensive. As I know the road and vicinity intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?

In the absence of a mortgage, then all but one or two of the Sawston conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your conveyancer will try and steer you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches completed, but she is duty bound to take that path of encouragement . Do bear in mind; if you are going to sell the house at a future date, it may be of interest to your prospective buyer what the searches contain. There are plenty of instances where premises with apparent issues can still reveal adverse search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Sawston will provide you some practical guidance here.

What is the difference between a licensed conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor in Sawston

There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in Sawston and Solicitor practices in Sawston offering conveyancing We would stress that the two are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal aspects of transferring property. The two can handle other property legal work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.

Have just purchased a repossessed house at auction in Sawston. Conveyancing is required. What are my next steps?

Having to in every practical sense signed on the dotted line you should retain a conveyancing practitioner quickly as you are faced with a pending a drop dead date to complete the deal. An auction property will ordinarily have a corresponding legal set of papers. This will include evidence of title and search results. Where you are dealing with leasehold premises the legal papers should contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation relating to a leasehold property. You need to hand this to the conveyancer working for you ASAP. Do make sure that you have funds in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

We expect to receive a DIP from Nottingham this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Nottingham recommend any Sawston solicitors on the Nottingham conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?

You will need to appoint Sawston solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Nottingham through the process.

I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Sawston. I now require my papers however the law firm has closed. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Sawston of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

We're novice buyers - agreed a price, but the estate agent told us that the vendor will only go ahead if we appoint their recommended solicitors as they want a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a local conveyancer used to conveyancing in Sawston

We suspect that the seller is unaware of this requirement. If they desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a genuine purchaser is going to damage their objectives. Bypass the agents and go straight to the sellers and make sure they understand (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to instruct your preferred Sawston conveyancing solicitors - as opposed tothose that will earn the estate agent a referral fee or meet his conveyancing figures set by HQ.

Last August I purchased a leasehold house in Sawston. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Sawston, conveyancing formalities finalised May 2008. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Sawston with an extended lease are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2092

With just 68 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.