I just acquired a flat at auction in Redland. Conveyancing is required. What are my next steps?

Given that you are now to in every practical sense signed on the dotted line you now have to find a conveyancing solicitor quickly as you are facing a tight deadline in which to complete the conveyancing. An auction property will ordinarily have a corresponding auction pack. This should include evidence of title and search results. In the case of leasehold property the conveyancing papers may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork specific to leasehold premises. You need to give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that your finances are in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

My uncle informed me that in buying a property in Redland there may be various restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external alterations to a property. Is this right?

There are anumerous of properties in Redland which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Redland should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

Having digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Redland solicitor - who is on the Santander conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?

Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Redland surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Redland. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing 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 Redland of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Redland. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.

Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Redland

Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal.

As co-executor for the estate of my grandmother I am disposing of a property in Cardiff but reside in Redland. My conveyancer (who is 250 miles from mehas requested that I execute a statutory declaration before the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing practitioner in Redland who can attest this legal document for me?

strictly speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Redland based

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Redland from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Redland can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ solicitors.
Many landlords or managing agents in Redland charge for providing management packs for a leasehold home. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Redland. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Redland state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance. A minority of Redland leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Redland, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Redland with an extended lease are worth £260,000. The ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2100

With just 74 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.