Me and my fiance are intending to acquire a 2 bedroom flat in Shepton Mallet with a mortgage. We have a Shepton Mallet conveyancer, but the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel solicitors or continue with our Shepton Mallet conveyancing practitioner and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to insist that the lender use our Shepton Mallet conveyancer ?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Shepton Mallet conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

In the event thatI was to buy a freehold housein Shepton Mallet mortgage fee and dispense with a survey and no local authority searches how much should I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Shepton Mallet?

Any savings you would achieve will be isolated to the costs for searches. A conveyancer still got to do everything else - money laundering, liaising with the sellers conveyancing practitioner, SDLT submission, register the property etc. A slight saving might be made by not having to register a charge however it will not be meaningful.

I am purchasing a new build house in Shepton Mallet with a mortgage from Nationwide Building Society. The builders would not budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent advised me not inform my conveyancer about the extras as it could put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.

Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Shepton Mallet in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may refuse to issue a loan on such a property.

It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions from Halifax. If you contact us we can check with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Shepton Mallet. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Shepton Mallet especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Shepton Mallet.

I've found a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have since been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Shepton Mallet. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Shepton Mallet ?

Most houses in Shepton Mallet are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Shepton Mallet in which case you should be shopping around for a Shepton Mallet conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should advise you fully on all the issues.

I inherited a basement flat in Shepton Mallet, conveyancing having been completed April 2002. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Shepton Mallet with an extended lease are worth £201,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2090

With only 64 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £14,300 and £16,400 plus costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information 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 want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.