I require conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (seven years built) in Bruton. Almost all the flats are already disposed of. Is it strictly necessary to order conveyancing searches as part of conveyancing in Bruton?

You would be putting yourself at risk in failing carrying out Bruton conveyancing searches. Without searches you have no clarity over flooding, environmental etc which may mean you walk away due to potential problems down the line. If you are buying mortgage free there is no legal necessity to have them, but we would absolutely advise in the strongest possible terms that your solicitor conducts them. If accelerating the process and price are top of your issues you should consider with your lawyer about the possibility of search insurance

We are selling our home in Bruton. Does my lawyer have to be on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their conditions fairly frequently at the moment.

Will our conveyancer be raising enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Bruton.

Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors conducting conveyancing in Bruton. There are those who acquire a property in Bruton, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.

Solicitors are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that may be undertaken by the buyer or by their conveyancers which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Bruton. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms sent to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard inquiry of the vendor to find out whether the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that the residence has been flooded in past which is not revealed by the vendor, then a buyer may issue a claim for damages stemming from an misleading answer. The purchaser’s lawyers should also order an environmental search. This should indicate if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further inquiries will need to be made.

I am buying a new build house in Bruton with a mortgage from Chelsea Building Society. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The property agent told me not to tell my conveyancer about the deal as it would affect my mortgage with Chelsea Building Society. 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 was advised by a number of property agents in Bruton to find a solicitor using your seach tool. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to recommend your services over a competitor’s?

We don’t make any referral fee for directing people to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.