My wife and I are buying a house in Seaford. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a lawyer? On the day of competition we will need to deposit funds into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our monies?

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.

My husband and I have arranged a further advance on our home loan from Principality as we wish to carry out a loft conversion to our home in Seaford. Do we need to appoint a high street Seaford solicitor on the Principality conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

Principality don't usually instruct firms on their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Principality list.

Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Seaford solicitor - who is on the HSBC conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

HSBC will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually HSBC 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Seaford surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I have justdiscovered that Action Conveyancing have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Seaford for a purchase of a freehold house 9 months ago. How can I check that the property is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest method to check if the property is registered to you, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Seaford conveyancing specialists.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Seaford is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can give?

Flying freeholds in Seaford are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Seaford you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Seaford may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.

My husband and I are 14 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the local agent to handle our conveyancing in Seaford. I am am starting to be dissatisfied with the level of service. Can you help me find new conveyancers?

They would have to be very poor to suggest changing them. Has the mortgage offer been generated? In the event that it has you will need to make them aware of the new conveyancer and get the loan are issued to the new lawyers. The solicitor ideally needs to be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid supplemental costs and complications. That should be your starting point. Our search tool should help you find a bank approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Seaford

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Seaford. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Seaford - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I own a leasehold flat in Seaford, 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? Comparable properties in Seaford with an extended lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2098

You have 74 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.