Much to our surprise we have been advised by our financial adviser that my St Margarets solicitor is not on the bank Conveyancing panel. How can I check?

You need to contact your St Margarets lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a St Margarets conveyancing firm that is on the conveyancing panel for your lender.

Having spent time looking at mumsnet.com for a recommended lawyer in St Margarets, most comment that I should instruct a CQS accredited solicitor. Can you explain what CQS is?

The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised kitemark for legal experts in the legal transfer of properties, trusted by some of the UK's biggest lenders. In 2011-12 the Conveyancing Quality Scheme was officially recognised by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The scheme does not cover licenced conveyancers. St Margarets is one of the many areas of the UK where there are CQS lawyers.

I used Arc property Solicitors a few years ago for my conveyancing in St Margarets. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in St Margarets of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I am buying my first flat in St Margarets with a mortgage from Accord Mortgages Ltd. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep told me not reveal to my solicitor about this extras as it may jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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 about to sell my garden flat in St Margarets. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, however I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the maintenance contribution as normal because all rents and maintenance invoices should be apportioned on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice 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 am the proprietor of a ground floor flat in St Margarets. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the price.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a St Margarets premises is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 60.45 years.