My partner and I are buying our first home. Our property lawyer has texted usto see if we wish to take out additional conveyancing searches. We are really unsure what's needed for conveyancing in Shenley Brook End

The quantity and type of Shenley Brook End conveyancing searches depends primarily on the property, the location, the possibility of any of these risks, your familiarity of the locality and risks, your overall approach to risk. What is important is that you adequately understand what information the searches could provide. Then you can make a decision if you personally think you need that information. If unsure, ask your solicitor to explain.

I am assisting my mother sell her house in Shenley Brook End. Will the conveyancing solicitor commission the energy performance certificate or it is for the seller to coordinate?

After the demise of Home Packs, EPC’s was maintained a required component of selling a property. An EPC must be commissioned in advance of the property being put on the market. It is not something that lawyers ordinarily organise. If you are using a Shenley Brook End conveyancing practitioner they may be able to arrange EPC’s due to their contacts with long established Shenley Brook End providers

I have a mortgage with RBS for my property in Shenley Brook End. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform RBS?

RBS must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of RBS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact RBS directly. You need not do this via a RBS conveyancing panel solicitor.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Shenley Brook End. My financial adviser suggested a solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £175. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me to say that they were not on the Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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.

The deeds to my house are lost. The lawyers who did the conveyancing in Shenley Brook End 4 years ago no longer exist. Will I be able to sell the house?

As long as the title is registered the details of your ownership will be retained by HMLR with a Title Number. It is easy to conduct a search at the Land Registry, find your house and order up to date copies of the property title for less than a fiver. If the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will usually retain a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for twenty pounds.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Shenley Brook End is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Shenley Brook End are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Shenley Brook End you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Shenley Brook End may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

My brother is buying a garden flat in Shenley Brook End. He was given a quote by the lawyer connected to the estate agents and it came to £1300 . It was seven years ago since I sold and bought a home and it cost was £just under six hundred pounds. Have fees really escalated to that extent?

We would recommend that you e-mail a few local Shenley Brook End conveyancing firms requesting estimates. It is advisable to base your selection not only on cost, but on promptness and on how comprehensive the reply is.