I have given 2 months notice to my existing landlord and must be out of my let out apartment in Westbury by . Conveyancing for my house purchase is underway. How realistic is it to complete in six weeks as I wish to avoid having to find short term accommodation?

It is unwise to provide notice on a rental unless exchange of contracts has taken place. Assuming that you have not already done so, notify to your conveyancer and request that they chase the owners side, try to get a realistic time scale from them that all parties will look to achieve

I own a 4 bedroom Victorian property in Westbury. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

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 Westbury 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 purchasers. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.

I am looking for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Westbury I like with a park and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Westbury suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you need a home loan that many years will be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

What tools are available to search for a Westbury solicitor on the conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 20miles to meet the lawyer.

You can use the tool on this page. Please select a bank and your location and you will see a number of Westbury conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have listed some Westbury conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to check if they are on the approved list

Why is it not possible to complete my conveyancing in Westbury on a bank holiday?

This is due to the fact that on completion the money needs to pass between the banks of the buyer and owner’s and at present this can only happen on a working day. So you can't complete on a weekend either.