The Kilgetty conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my purchase in Kilgetty have without warning closed. I chose them because I needed a lawyer on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and my preferred Kilgetty lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What do I do now?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.

My uncle informed me that in buying a property in Kilgetty there may be various restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external changes to the property. Is this right?

We are aware of a number of properties in Kilgetty which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Kilgetty should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I have a mortgage with Barclays for my property in Kilgetty. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Barclays?

Barclays must be informed of your intention in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Barclays’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Barclays will permit you to let 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 Barclays directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Barclays conveyancing panel firm.

HSBC have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a property in Kilgetty has been agreed to, what are the next steps?

Your property agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the conveyancers are on the bank’s approved list). Telephone HSBC or the broker and complete any outstanding documentation. HSBC will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or owners to book an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a week to receive the mortgage offer. HSBC will send the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Kilgetty.

My father has urged me to appoint his lawyers for conveyancing in Kilgetty. Do I take his recommendation?

There are no two ways about it the best way to find a conveyancing lawyer is to seek feedback from friends or relatives who have previously instructed the firm you're contemplating using.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £275,000 flat in Kilgetty next week. The landlords agents has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Kilgetty?

Kilgetty conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not involves the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be content to assist. They are entitled to charge a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

I bought a 1 bedroom flat in Kilgetty, conveyancing formalities finalised December 2012. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding flats in Kilgetty with a long lease are worth £181,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2075

With 50 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

There are a number of houses in Kilgetty on unadopted roads. My partner and I are acquiring such a house. What would be the pros and cons of purchasing a property on a privately owned road?

Kilgetty conveyancing practices are well versed in conveyancing homeson unadopted roads. The property lawyer should review the Land Registry data to identify any rights or liabilities. It is possible that there is a residents association that owners pay into to maintain the road. Where there is one, the road will likely be maintained and appear nicer than council adopted.