My solicitor has informed me that chancel insurance is required on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Great Shelford?

The appropriate level of chancel indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Accord Mortgages Ltd and Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Kent Reliance. I assume I don't need a Great Shelford lawyer on the Kent Reliance panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Kent Reliance mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Kent Reliance mortgage from the register. Kent Reliance, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Kent Reliance has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Kent Reliance has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Great Shelford. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £175. Shortly after, the conveyancing practitioner called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Santander conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Santander panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I am intent on selling our house in Great Shelford and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. Any high street Great Shelford conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using a national conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Great Shelford. Having lived in Great Shelford for many years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation that the buyers are looking for.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)

I purchased a renovated Victorian house in Great Shelford. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Santander. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. Is it worth asking Santander to clarify?

You need to assess 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 Great Shelford and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. Great Shelford is where the house is located. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Great Shelford are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Great Shelford you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Great Shelford may determine 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 husband and I may need to let out our Great Shelford basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Great Shelford conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Great Shelford do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Great Shelford Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? The answer will be useful as a) areas could cause problems for the building as the communal areas may start to deteriorate if services are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the managing agents you will need to have all the details Be sure to investigate if the the lease includes any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance it is reasonably common in Great Shelford leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Great Shelford. If you like the propertyin Great Shelford but your dog is not allowed to live with you then you will be presented with a hard determination.