Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Blyth is more expensive?

In short, leasehold conveyancing in Blyth and Northumberland usually necessitates more due diligence compared to freehold transactions. This includes analysing the lease terms, communicating with the landlord concerning the service of appropriate notices, securing up-to-date service charge and management information, procuring the landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – regardless of the fact the lease has passed through many different property solicitors hands since it was first entered into.

I am expecting a AIP from Principality this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Principality recommend any Blyth solicitors on the Principality conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?

You will need to appoint Blyth solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Principality conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Principality through the process.

My fiancee and I are at the point of viewing flats in Blyth 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 Barclays.

It would be prudent to start your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the EA. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Barclays, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Blyth. My financial adviser suggested a solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £175. A couple of days later, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Nationwide panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I know that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Am I compelled to take this when acquiring a property in Blyth? or I am told that there is an ancient law that could mean that owners of property residing in a parish church boundary may be liable to pay for maintenance to the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this applicable for conveyancing in Blyth?

Unless a prior purchase of the premises took place after 12 October 2013 you could expect lawyers delivering conveyancing in Blyth to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Blyth?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Blyth. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I am buying a new build house in Blyth with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The estate agent suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about the side-deal as it may adversely affect my mortgage with the bank. 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.