We are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in Amesbury with a mortgage. We like our Amesbury lawyer, however the bank says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel firms or keep our Amesbury conveyancer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. This seems very unfair; can we not demand that the lender use our Amesbury conveyancing practitioner ?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Amesbury conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

The deeds to my house can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Amesbury 4 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?

These day there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your conveyancer should be aware exactly where to locate all the suitable paperwork so you can purchase or dispose of your house without any difficulty. If duplicates can’t be found, your lawyer may be able to put in place insurance or indemnities protecting you against future claims on the premises.

I'm buying a new build house in Amesbury with a mortgage from Halifax. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not to tell my solicitor about this deal as it would jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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 am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Amesbury where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Amesbury conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

I acquired a leasehold flat in Amesbury, conveyancing having been completed January 1996. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable properties in Amesbury with an extended lease are worth £201,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2090

You have 65 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £13,300 and £15,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Can you set out the spectrum of conveyancing handled by Amesbury conveyancing companies?

On the whole Amesbury conveyancing practices will handle a wide array of legal advice to residential and agricultural land proprietors, sellers, investors, landlords and tenants which may include:

Residential sale conveyancing in Amesbury and beyond Domestic purchase conveyancing in Amesbury and nationwide Advising in respect of rights of drainage, services, and access (Easements) Leasehold conveyancing selling and buying Licence to Alter Property conveyancing following matrimonial or relationship splits