The Higham Ferrers conveyancing firm that just started acting on my house acquisition in Higham Ferrers have suddenly shut down. I only went with them because I needed a solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and my preferred Higham Ferrers lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What do I do now?

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would 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 Co-operative 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 solicitors may be able to assist.

This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as a first time purchaser of a two bedroom flat in Higham Ferrers. Do I pick up the keys to the property on the completion date from my lawyer? If so, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Higham Ferrers?

On the day of completion you do not need to go to the conveyancers office in Higham Ferrers. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you will be able to receive the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. Usually this occurs early afternoon.

I happen to be the sole recipient of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Higham Ferrers. The Higham Ferrers property was put into my name in December. I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship may be considered the same way as though I had purchased the property in December. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be affected by that. How sensible a view lenders take of it, depend on the lender as this clause chiefly exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of property.

We were going to get a DIP from Kent Reliance this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Kent Reliance recommend any Higham Ferrers solicitors on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?

You will need to appoint Higham Ferrers solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Kent Reliance through the process.

I used Arc property Solicitors a few years past for my conveyancing in Higham Ferrers. I now require my papers but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

You should 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 Higham Ferrers of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I am purchasing my first flat in Higham Ferrers with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The property agent told me not to tell my conveyancer about this deal as it may put at risk my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

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 work for a long established estate agent office in Higham Ferrers where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Higham Ferrers conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

I purchased a garden flat in Higham Ferrers, conveyancing was carried out April 2000. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Higham Ferrers with a long lease are worth £260,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2100

With only 74 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns 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 getting professional advice.