AssumingI was to purchase a simple residential propertyin Stapleford mortgage fee and dispense with a survey and no conveyancing searches how much should I expect to to save on my conveyancing in Stapleford?

The only saving you would achieve is the Stapleford conveyancing searches. Your conveyancing practitioner still be obliged to do everything else - money laundering, liaising with your vendors property lawyer, SDLT return, register the ownership etc. You might save a bit for them not needing to register a mortgage but it will not be significant.

My fiancee and I are spending time viewing flats in Stapleford and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Barclays.

It would be wise to start your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the estate agent. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Barclays, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Stapleford. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How do I make a complaint?

Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.

I can not work out if my bank requires a lease extension. I have telephoned my Stapleford bank branch on numerous occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they will lend. My Stapleford conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they refuse to lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?

The conveyancing practitioner must follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook section two specifications for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.

Should our lawyer be raising questions regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Stapleford.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers dealing with homes in Stapleford. Plenty of people will buy a house in Stapleford, fully aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Conveyancers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that may be undertaken by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will figure out the risks in Stapleford. The standard information supplied to a buyer’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard question of the owner to find out if the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that the residence has been flooded in past and is not disclosed by the owner, then a purchaser could commence a claim for damages resulting from an misleading response. A buyer’s lawyers will also commission an enviro report. This will higlight whether there is any known flood risk. If so, further investigations should be conducted.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Stapleford with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not inform my solicitor about this side-deal as it would impact my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Stapleford where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Stapleford conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

I inherited a studio flat in Stapleford, conveyancing formalities finalised 10 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable properties in Stapleford with an extended lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2098

You have 74 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.