Much to our surprise we have been informed by our lender that my Winkleigh the law firm I have appointed is not on the bank Conveyancing panel. What can I do to check?

Your first step should be to contact your Winkleigh lawyer directly. You lawyer should notify you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Winkleigh conveyancing practice that is on the approved list of lawyers for your mortgage company.

My grandmother passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Winkleigh. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £8000. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Yorkshire BS, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?

If you plan to refinance then Yorkshire BS will require that you use a conveyancer on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Yorkshire BS mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

There are numerous conveyancing solicitors in Winkleigh but how do I know who I should use?

We would encourage you not to go for the lowest Winkleigh conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.

We had instructed solicitors located in Winkleigh on the Principality solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a supplemental sum for the legal aspects of the Principality mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Principality?

As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitor is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Principality but by your Winkleigh property lawyer. Some firms on the Principality panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

My wife and I are at the point of viewing flats in Winkleigh and I am about to put in an offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a home loan with Lloyds.

It would be advisable to commence your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the selling agent. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel.

I am purchasing a new build house in Winkleigh with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not reveal to my lawyer about this side-deal as it could put at risk my loan with the lender. 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.

My step-father has urged me to appoint his conveyancing solicitors in Winkleigh. Should I use them?

There are no two ways about it it’s preferable to find a conveyancing practitioner is to seek feedback from friends or family who have previously instructed the solicitor you're considering.