As someone unfamiliar with conveyancing in Alcester what’s the number one tip you can impart for the legal transfer of property in Alcester

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Alcester or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of opportunity for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the transaction. E.g., the seller, selling agent and even potentially your bank. Appointing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Alcester is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the process whose responsibility is to act in your legal interests and to protect you.

There is a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be blamed for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer above all other parties in the conveyancing process.

Have just purchased a probate house at auction in Alcester. Conveyancing is necessary. What happens now?

Now that you have exchanged you must find a conveyancing solicitor quickly as you now have a tight a fixed date to complete the deal. Every auction property will have a bespoke legal pack. This should include most,if not all of the paperwork that your conveyancer will need. In the case of leasehold premises the legal pack may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork relating to a leasehold property. You need to hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor ASAP. You also need to ensure that your finances are in place to complete on the date specified in the contract.

We are getting a further advance on our home loan from Skipton as we want to carry out a loft conversion to our property in Alcester. Are we obliged to choose a bricks and mortar Alcester solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?

Skipton don't usually appoint firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Skipton conveyancing panel.

I have a mortgage with Skipton for my property in Alcester. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Skipton?

Your original mortgage agreement with Skipton will provide that you need their approval prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Skipton’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Skipton directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Skipton conveyancing panel lawyer.

I bought my flat on 1 August and my personal details is yet to be on the land registry website. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Alcester said it should be recorded in less than a month. Are transfers in Alcester particularly slow to register?

There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Alcester registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timeframes can adjust subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry need to notify any interested persons or bodies. As of today roughly 80% of submission are completed within two weeks but some can be subject to longer hold-ups. Registration is effected after the purchaser is living at the premises so post completion formalities is not usually an essential issue but if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer should communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.

I am purchasing my first flat in Alcester with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The house builders rep advised me not inform my lawyer about the side-deal as it will impact my mortgage with TSB. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Alcester is where the house is located. Is there any advice you can give?

Flying freeholds in Alcester are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Alcester you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Alcester may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.