We just had an offer accepted to buy with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. We have called around locally yet am struggling to find a Wokingham conveyancing firm on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society approved list. Can you assist?

You should take advantage of the search tool on this web page. Pick the building society and type Wokingham or your location and you will discover a number of lawyer offices in Wokingham or by proximity to you.

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Wokingham. Conveyancing is required. What are my next steps?

Given that you have now to in every practical sense signed on the dotted line you should appoint a conveyancing practitioner quickly as you are faced with a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the transaction. All auction property will have a bespoke auction pack. This will likely include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. If you have purchased leasehold property the auction pack may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork relating to leasehold premises. You need to pass this on to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. You also need to ensure that you have funds in place to complete on the date specified in the contract.

How can we tell if a Wokingham conveyancing solicitor on the HSBC panel is any good?

When it comes to conveyancing in Wokingham seeking recommendations is a sensible starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always advise that you speak with the lawyer carrying out your conveyancing.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Wokingham. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £225. A couple of days later, the conveyancing practitioner called me to say that they were not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Leeds Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I have been told that property searches are the number one cause of obstruction in Wokingham conveyancing transactions. Is this right?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Wokingham.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Wokingham I like with open areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Wokingham for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?

If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Wokingham where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Wokingham conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 Wokingham, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. 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 properties in Wokingham with a long lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease terminates 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 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. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you 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.