I am soon to complete on the purchase of a property in Oakham but as a result of wreckage from a small fire at the property I have was able negotiate recompense from the seller of £2k by way of a reduction in the price. This was going to be addressed as part of the conveyancing process but Barclays will not permit this. Why were they informed?

Any solicitor being on a Barclays approved list is obliged to inform Barclays of any amendments to the purchase price. If you prohibit your lawyer to disclose the price change to Barclays then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Barclays and you would have to appoint a new solicitor for your conveyancing in Oakham.

What does a local search tell me about the property we're purchasing in Oakham?

Oakham conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for example Searchflow The local search is essential in every Oakham conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your property. The search should provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic areas.

I am buying a new build house in Oakham with a loan from Leeds Building Society. The developers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep told me not disclose to my conveyancer about this deal as it could put at risk my loan with the lender. 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.

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Oakham I like with open areas and transport links nearby, however it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Oakham suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?

If you need a home loan that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.

My fiance and I have just had an offer accepted on a property and had meeting on Wednesday with HSBC for the mortgage. They warned us that when it comes to appointing a solicitor that unless they are on their approved list of lawyers then we will be subject to an a further charge of £250+. This is is due to the fact that they will then have to instruct a solicitor to act on their behalf in addition to the one we appoint on our behalf and we will be on the hook for their invoice. I have requested HSBC to provide me with a list so I can request estimates only from their approved solicitors but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is there a simple way of finding out who is on a lender panel?

You can enquire of HSBC what their criteria for panel membership is for a solicitor.Thereafter ask the property lawyer of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on loans for HSBC historically. Where the answer to those is yes, then just double check with HSBC. Alternatively please make use of our search tool and we should be able to locate a lawyer in Oakham on the approved list for HSBC.