I am buying a house mortgage free in St Neots. I have been living for the previous Seventeen years in St Neots. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I have knowledge of the road and vicinity very well should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

If you not getting a mortgage, then almost all of the St Neots conveyancing searches are optional. Your solicitor will ’encourage you, no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches done, but he has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to dispose of the house at a future date, it could be of interest to your prospective purchaser what the searches contain. On occasion houses with functional issues can still show up unpredicted search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in St Neots will be able to give you some practical guidance in this regard.

Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in St Neots is more expensive?

In short, leasehold conveyancing in St Neots and Cambridgeshire usually involve additional due diligence compared to freehold transactions. This includes analysing the lease terms, communicating with the landlord about the service of required notices, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining the freeholder’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – no matter how many different owners have owned the lease since it was first granted.

I am the sole recipient of my late grandmother’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in St Neots. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership could be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the house in December. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?

The CML handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be affected by that. How practical a view lenders take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this provision primarily exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.

Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with HSBC. St Neots conveyancing solicitors are appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from HSBC?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have HSBC done the valuation? Have you advised HSBC as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the HSBC conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

My fiancee and I are spending time looking at houses in St Neots and I am about to put in an offer. Is it best to have a conveyancing practitioner on ‘stand by’? I intend to finance via a home loan with Virgin Money.

It would be prudent to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the estate agent. Given that you are seeking a mortgage with Virgin Money, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one near me in St Neots I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in St Neots for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in St Neots. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in St Neots should include some of the following:

Where does the liability rest for maintaining the window frames What the implications are if you are in breach of your lease terms? Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice? You should be advised what is to be regarded as a Nuisance as far as the lease is concerned The landlord’s rights to access the flat. You should be made aware that your landlord has rights of access as well as be informed how much notice must be provided.

I purchased a 1 bedroom flat in St Neots, conveyancing formalities finalised May 2003. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable properties in St Neots with an extended lease are worth £201,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2091

You have 65 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £13,300 and £15,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.