My wife and I are purchasing a newly constructed duplex in South Brent and my lawyer is advising me that she is duty bound to the lender to reveal incentives from the developer. The Estate Agents are hassling me to sign contracts and I don't want to prolong the conveyancing. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Nationwide Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in South Brent?

First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.

Taking into account that I will soon spend £400,000 on a garden flat in South Brent I would like to have a conversation with the conveyancer about myhome move before instructing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?

We could not agree more - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the lawyer due to be doing your property ownership legalities in South Brent.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important individual, not a matter number. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for your conveyancing in South Brent should be the figure that you are charged.

Is it best to appoint a South Brent conveyancing lawyer in close proximity to the house I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can perform the legal work however they are based 200kilometers drive away.

The primary upside of using a local South Brent conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to sign documents, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local insight which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who used your friend and on the whole were happy that should surpass using an unfamiliar South Brent conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being round the corner.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in South Brent what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in South Brent. Most leases are drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

A duty to insure the building A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, The Mortgage Works, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

South Brent Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

How much is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the property? Are there any major works in the near future that will likely increase the service charges? Be sure to find out if the the lease contains any adverse restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is very common in South Brent leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in South Brent. If you like the propertyin South Brent however your dog can’t make the move with you then you will be faced difficult compromise.