i am buying my first flat in Bredbury benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The estate agent told me not to tell my lawyer about the side-deal as it would affect my mortgage with . Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Bredbury is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can give?

Flying freeholds in Bredbury are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Bredbury you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Bredbury may decide 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 residence.

We're FTB’s - had an offer accepted, yet the estate agent told us that the owners will only go ahead if we appoint their preferred lawyers as they are insisting on a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a high street conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Bredbury

We suspect that the owner is not behind this demand. If they desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a serious buyer is counter productive. Contact the vendors directly and explain that (a)you are serious purchasers (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you will continue to use your preferred Bredbury conveyancing firm - not the ones that will provide the negotiator at the agency a kickback or achieve conveyancing thresholds demanded by HQ.