My aunt advised me that in buying a property in East Coker there may be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to a property. Is this right?

There are a number of properties in East Coker which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in East Coker should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I'm in the throws of viewing flats in East Coker and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a home loan with Coventry BS.

You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the EA. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Coventry BS, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel.

I had an offer accepted on a house in East Coker on 7/10/2025, valuation was booked 4 days after, all came back fine. Property lawyer appointed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Nottingham and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Nottingham to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I'm buying my first flat in East Coker with a mortgage from Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. The developers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not disclose to my solicitor about this deal as it may impact my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.

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'm converting the mortgage on my primary property to a buy to let mortgage with Halifax and I will use the rest of the raised equity as a deposit on further house. The location we are interested in is East Coker. Will your solicitors be able to act for both sets of mortgage companies and tie in the two deals?

Make use of our comparison tool on this site to ensure that the conveyancers are approved by both banks. Having checked that they are the lawyer should be able to simultaneously deal with the two transactions but you should have a chat with you lawyer and specify your expectations and needs.

I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing lawyer in East Coker for my purchase. Can I check a solicitor's record with the profession’s regulator?

You can read published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations arising from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. For records Pre 2008, or to check a firm's record, ring 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. International callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could monitor telephone calls for training reasons.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in East Coker. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in East Coker - 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 2 bed flat in East Coker, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in East Coker with a long lease are worth £197,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2080

You have 55 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.