My partner and I are planning to purchase a house in Bures and are in fact using a Bures conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Skipton Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Bures solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?

Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Bures solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Bures. Conveyancing is necessary. What are my next steps?

Now that you have exchanged you now have to choose a conveyancing solicitor as a matter of priority as you will have a pending a drop dead date to complete the conveyancing. Every auction property will have an associated auction pack. This should include most,if not all of the paperwork that your lawyer will need. If you have purchased leasehold premises the auction pack should contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation specific to leasehold premises. You must give this to the lawyer working for you ASAP. Do make sure that you have funds organised to complete on the date specified in the contract.

I'm the only recipient of my late father’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Bures. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in August. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership could be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the property in August. Do I have to wait 6 months to sell?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be affected by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this obligation is primarily there to capture subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of property.

The mortgage over my property is with Aldermore for my property in Bures. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Aldermore?

Aldermore must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Aldermore will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Aldermore directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Aldermore conveyancing panel firm.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Bures is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Bures are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Bures you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Bures 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 residence.

My father-in-law has recommend that I appoint his conveyancers in Bures. Do I take his guidance?

No doubt the best way to find a conveyancing solicitor is to get recommendations from friends or relatives who have experience in using the solicitor you're contemplating using.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Bures both have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Bures is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the premises. For most purchasers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Bures conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Bures Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

The prefered form of lease structure is if the freehold title is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the lessees have control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often employed if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. How much is the ground rent and service charge? Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that could add a premium to the service fees?