I was recommended to a conveyancer who has given a fee estimate £1350 for no completion no fee conveyancing in Fenny Stratford. I am hoping to sell a Georgian house for £150,000. Are these conveyancing fees excessive? Is it above the norm for conveyancing in Fenny Stratford?

The quote is slightly on the high side. Where you are willing to invest time scrutinising costs you could trim some of the expense by say a hundred pounds. On the other hand, you mightcome to rue choosing an an unknown conveyancer. Don't forget to check the conveyancer can also act for your lender. Do use our comparison tool to find a Fenny Stratford conveyancing practice on the banks member panel which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Fenny Stratford.

My partner and I are refinancing our penthouse in Fenny Stratford with Santander. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Santander conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Santander had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

I am helping my niece sell her flat in Fenny Stratford. Will the conveyancer order an energy assessment or it is for the seller to see to?

Following the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates was kept a required component of selling a house. An energy performance certificate should be to hand prior to the property being placed on the market. This is not something that lawyers ordinarily organise. Where you are using a Fenny Stratford conveyancing solicitor they may help arrange EPC’s due to their relationships with long established Fenny Stratford assessors

I can not fathom if my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my Fenny Stratford bank branch on various occasions and was told it wasn't an issue and they would lend. My Fenny Stratford conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called to say that they refuse to lend based on their published requirements. Who do I believe?

Provided that the lawyer is on the mortgage company approved list, they must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.

I am due to exchange contracts on my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in November 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, HSBC are being pedantic. The Fenny Stratford solicitor who is on the HSBC conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but HSBC are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do HSBC have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that HSBC have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why HSBC may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Fenny Stratford ahead of appointing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may not issue a mortgage on a flying freehold house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Fenny Stratford. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Fenny Stratford to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.

One month into purchasing a property in Fenny Stratford. Conveyancing lawyer has phoned to say the property is "Leasehold". Does this impact our Santander valuation?

Fenny Stratford conveyancing does not normally involve leasehold houses. The crucial consideration here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a peppercorn rent, it's essentially freehold, so it’s unlikely to impact the value too much.

At the other end of the spectrum, if it's, say, 50 years it is bound to have a significant impact on the value, and probably wouldn't be acceptable to the mortgage company. The length of lease and ground rent will be set out in the lease to be supplied to your property lawyer.