My wife and I are buying a flat in Kirkwhelpington. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a lawyer? On completion day we have to put money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our deposit?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Kirkwhelpington. I have a mortgage agreed with Skipton. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Skipton, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel.

My offer was accepted on a house in Kirkwhelpington on 24/11/2025, valuation was booked 4 days after, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to RBS and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for RBS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the RBS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Kirkwhelpington benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about this extras as it may put at risk my loan with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Kirkwhelpington is where the house is located. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Kirkwhelpington are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Kirkwhelpington you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Kirkwhelpington may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

As co-executor for the estate of my aunt I am selling a house in Neath but reside in Kirkwhelpington. My conveyancer (approximately 235 miles awayhas requested that I sign a stat dec prior to completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Kirkwhelpington to witness this legal document for me?

Technically speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are based in Kirkwhelpington

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold flat in Kirkwhelpington. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Kirkwhelpington who acted for me is not around. Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Kirkwhelpington conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am the registered owner of a 2 bed flat in Kirkwhelpington, conveyancing formalities finalised June 2004. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Kirkwhelpington with a long lease are worth £195,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2089

With only 63 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £16,200 and £18,600 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.