Our lawyer has identified a a legal deficiency with the lease for the apartment we are purchasing in Ashton Under Lyne. The other side have suggested defective title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our solicitor has advised that he must check that the bank is content with this solution. Are we the client or is the lender?

Notwithstanding that you have a mortgage offer from the mortgage company does not mean to say that the property will meet their conditions for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. You and the mortgage company are the client. These conveyancing instructions must be adhered to.

My apartment in Ashton Under Lyne is up for sale and I have a purchaser. Will my solicitor need to be required to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Skipton 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 panel criteria fairly frequently at the moment.

My uncle pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Ashton Under Lyne there could be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to the property. Is this right?

We are aware of a number of properties in Ashton Under Lyne which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Ashton Under Lyne should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in January 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Lloyds are being problematic. The Ashton Under Lyne solicitor who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Lloyds are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Lloyds have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Lloyds have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Lloyds may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

I have instructed a Ashton Under Lyne lawyer having checked that they are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Ashton Under Lyne postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Ashton Under Lyne.

Will my conveyancer be making enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Ashton Under Lyne.

Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers dealing with homes in Ashton Under Lyne. Some people will purchase a house in Ashton Under Lyne, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.

Conveyancers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous checks that can be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Ashton Under Lyne. The standard information supplied to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard inquiry of the owner to discover if the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not notified by the vendor, then a buyer may bring a compensation claim stemming from an incorrect response. The buyer’s conveyancers should also conduct an environmental report. This will disclose if there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations should be conducted.

I am purchasing a new build house in Ashton Under Lyne with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The sale representative advised me not to tell my solicitor about the side-deal as it would jeopardize my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.

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.