Our son is buying a newly built flat in Bacup with a home loan from Virgin Money. His solicitor has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?

The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

I am buying a property in Bacup. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Nottingham have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As your lender is Nottingham your lawyer must check the formal instructions contained in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Nottingham. The CML Handbook contains minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to Nottingham where a lease fails to comply with these provisions. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Bacup.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Co-operative. I assume I don't need a Bacup lawyer on the Co-operative panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Co-operative mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Co-operative mortgage from the register. Co-operative, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Co-operative has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Co-operative has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I have a mortgage with HSBC for my property in Bacup. Conveyancing has been completed some time 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 HSBC?

You must advise HSBC before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of HSBC’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 HSBC directly. You need not do this via a HSBC conveyancing panel lawyer.

About to purchase a new build apartment in Bacup. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Bacup

Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?

I opted to have a survey carried out on a property in Bacup ahead of instructing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies tend not grant a loan on such a house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Nationwide. If you call us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Bacup. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Bacup especially if they are familiar with such properties in Bacup.

In sourcing the world wide web for the phrase cheap conveyancing in Bacup it shows results of numerous solicitorslocally. With so much choice what is the best way to find the right conveyancer for purchase transaction?

The ideal way of finding the right conveyancer is via trusted recommendation, so ask friends and relatives who have acquired a property in Bacup or the local estate agent or mortgage broker. Fees for conveyancing in Bacup vary, so it's advisable to secure a minimum of four fee estimates from varying types of companies. Make sure that you know what costs in the quote includes.