Our son is in the process of securing a newly built flat in Stockbridge with a home loan from Co-operative. His solicitor has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?

The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Co-operative conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

I have recentlyfound out that Action Conveyancing have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Stockbridge for a purchase of a leasehold flat 9 months ago. How can I check that the property is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?

The easiest way to see 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 Stockbridge conveyancing specialists.

We're FTB’s - agreed a price, but the estate agent told us that the vendor will only move forward if we appoint their chosen lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local conveyancer who is familiar with conveyancing in Stockbridge

We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. Should the owner desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Contact the owners directly and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you are going to appoint your preferred Stockbridge conveyancing firm - not the ones that will give their estate agent a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing figures demanded by head office.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Stockbridge. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Stockbridge - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 inherited a leasehold flat in Stockbridge, conveyancing having been completed July 1995. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding properties in Stockbridge with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2103

You have 78 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £7,600 and £8,800 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

I have appointed a Stockbridge conveyancing solicitor for our house purchase (novice purchasers) and have noticed in the Ts and Cs that they are not governed by the Financial Conduct Authority. Should I be concerned or is that usually the case with lawyer?

We can't see why they should be. Most lawyer don't lend money. They will be governed by the SRA, who set specific obligations covering monies sitting in their bank.