My partner and I are acquiring a newly built flat in Northam and my conveyancer is advising me that she has to the lender to disclose incentives from the developer. I am under pressure to exchange contracts and my preference is not to prolong deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your . A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

A relative suggested that if I am buying in Northam I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Northam conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Northam around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Northam Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Northam.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Northam I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Northam suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a mortgage that many years will likely be problematic. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.

How difficult is it to transfer to a new firm as I have to find a firm on the conveyancing list. I hired a local conveyancing solicitor in Northam five minutes from me but he is not accepted by

It would be our pleasure to help you find a conveyancing solicitor in Northam on the panel. Please note that the conveyancers that we on the directory do not pay us fee if you instruct them and are registered with the SRA who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in Northam. In making use of the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this website, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Northam.

I own a basement flat in Northam, conveyancing having been completed 3 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Northam with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 50

With just 50 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £36,100 and £41,800 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.