I am acquiring a house for cash in Henleaze. I have resided for the previous 15 years in Henleaze. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. As I know the area and road intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

In the absence of a home loan, then all but one or two of the Henleaze conveyancing searches are optional. Your conveyancer will ’encourage you, no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches done, but she is duty bound to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are going to dispose of the house in the future, it may be of interest to your prospective purchaser what the searches contain. On occasion premises with no practical issues can still show up detrimental search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Henleaze should provide you some practical advice here.

I am the registered owner of a freehold residence in Henleaze but still charged rent, why is this and what is this?

It’s unusual for properties in Henleaze and has limited impact for conveyancing in Henleaze but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back hundreds of years, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.

Previous rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence post 2037 is to be dispensed with completely.

There is lots of information on this site concerning conveyancing in Henleaze but what is your top tip for choosing the right conveyancer in Henleaze

It would be unwise to be seduced by the lowest Henleaze conveyancing quote. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.

Please help - my lawyer says that flying freehold insurance is required on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Henleaze?

The right level of flying freehold indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Lloyds TSB Bank and The Mortgage Works. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.

My partner and I have organised a further advance on our mortgage from Lloyds as we want to conduct improvements to our house in Henleaze. Do we need to choose a nearby Henleaze solicitor on the Lloyds conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

Lloyds do not ordinarily appoint firms on their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Lloyds conveyancing panel.

I am selling our property in Henleaze and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. A local conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers used a factory type conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Henleaze. Having lived in Henleaze for three years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation that there is no issue.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer already. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)

We are midway through buying a residence in Henleaze. Conveyancing solicitor has told us the property is "Leasehold". Should this make a difference on the marketability of the property?

Henleaze conveyancing does not ordinarily involve leasehold houses. The key factor here is the remaining lease term and the ground rent. If there are over a hundred years remaining with a nominal rent, it's almost the same as freehold, so it’s unlikely to affect the marketability significantly.

At the other extreme, if it's, say, 50 years it is bound to have a significant impact on the saleability, and most likely wouldn't be mortgageable. The remaining lease term and ground rent will be specified in the lease to be supplied to your conveyancer.