We are purchasing a 1 bedroom flat in Cuffley with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Cuffley lawyer, but the bank says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have no option but to appoint one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or retain our Cuffley solicitor as well as pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. 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. A further alternative is for your Cuffley conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

Me and my partner are about to exchange on the purchase of a house in Cuffley but as a result of wreckage from a small fire at the property I have managed to agree reparation from the current proprietors of £2k in the form of a deduction in the price. This was going to be addressed as part of amending the contract but Skipton will not agree to this. Why were they notified?

Any conveyancer being on a Skipton approved list is obliged to inform Skipton of any variations to the sale price. If you were to refuse your solicitor to report the reduction to Skipton then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Skipton and you would have to appoint a new conveyancer for your conveyancing in Cuffley.

I own a terraced Edwardian house in Cuffley. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Platform Home Loans Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Cuffley and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the position with the conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Cuffley. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Here are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Cuffley

Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.

I have been on the look out for a flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Cuffley I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Cuffley for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.