I am not in a position to travel far from Kettering. I would like to know the understand why all Kettering solicitors are not on all mortgage company panels?

Even though it may seem unfair for lenders to limit who can act for them, from the public’s or solicitor’s viewpoint, the flip side is that lenders are increasingly anxious and consider it imperative to protect them from illegal activities. As a result of this concern lenders have consolidated their conveyancing panel to a manageable size.

is it true that all Kettering conveyancing solicitors on the Nationwide conveyancing panel are governed by the SRA?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Nationwide approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the practice would be overseen by the CLC.

Intending to buy a maisonette in Kettering. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Santander conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Kettering conveyancer is on the Santander conveyancing panel.

HSBC have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a property in Kettering has been accepted, now what?

The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the conveyancing practitioners are on the lender’s panel). Call up HSBC or the broker and finalise any appropriate forms. HSBC will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or vendor to schedule a time for the valuation to take place. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes on average ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. HSBC will send the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Kettering.

Do I need to pay for insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when acquiring a property in Kettering?

Unless a prior purchase of the property completed post 12 October 2013 you may expect conveyancing practitioners conducting conveyancing in Kettering to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.

I am purchasing a new build house in Kettering benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The property agent advised me not disclose to my conveyancer about the deal as it will impact my mortgage with Bank of Scotland. Should I keep quiet?.

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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kettering from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kettering can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ conveyancers.
You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale. If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled. Some Kettering leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

Kettering Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

What is the annual maintenance fee and ground rent? The answer will be helpful as a) areas could cause problems for the building as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if services are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to have complete disclosure Be sure to investigate if the the lease includes any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. For example it is very common in Kettering leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Kettering. If you love the propertyin Kettering but your cat can’t make the move with you then you will be presented with a hard choice.