We are expecting a mortgage offer soon. The lender mentioned the mortgage came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to appoint their panel lawyer as I would prefer to instruct a high street conveyancing solicitor in Delabole?

You should check but the chances are that allocate you one of their panel lawyers should you want the "fee-free" offer. Call the lender and determine if they offer you a cash alternative. It is not unheard for a lender to give a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case you could put that amount towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor near Delabole.

I am purchasing my first flat in Delabole with a mortgage from Virgin Money. The sellers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not inform my lawyer about the side-deal as it could jeopardize my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.

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.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in Delabole I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Delabole in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Delabole. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, but I have recently had a quarterly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay the maintenance contribution as normal as all ground rent and maintenance invoices should be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Delabole, conveyancing formalities finalised November 2005. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Delabole with over 90 years remaining are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2094

With only 69 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

My wife and I have recently appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Delabole. I I would like to check if they are on the bank's conveyancing panel. Can you advise?

One option is to contact the solicitor to enquire if they are on the bank's panel. Alternatively please call us and we can investigate and revert. If they are not on the bank panel we we can help find a reputable conveyancing solicitor in Delabole on the panel for your lender.