Me and my fiance are intending to buy a 3 bedroom flat in Brighstone with a mortgage. We like our Brighstone lawyer, however the lender says she’s not on their "panel". It seems we have no option but to select one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or retain our Brighstone conveyancer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. We regard this is inequitable; can we not insist that the lender use our Brighstone property lawyer ?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Brighstone conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My colleague advised me that if I am purchasing in Brighstone I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Brighstone conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Brighstone around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Brighstone.

I'm buying my first flat in Brighstone benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my conveyancer about this side-deal as it will affect my mortgage with Virgin Money. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.

We're FTB’s - agreed a price, but the agent told us that the owners will only issue a contract if we instruct their preferred solicitors as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a family solicitor accustomed to conveyancing in Brighstone

We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. Should the owner desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a genuine buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Avoid the agents and go straight to the sellers and explain that (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you will continue to use your own,trusted Brighstone conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will give their estate agent a referral fee or achieve conveyancing thresholds demanded by HQ.

I own a leasehold flat in Brighstone. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Brighstone who previously acted has long since retired. What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Brighstone conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Brighstone - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Does the lease include onerous restrictions? Make sure you find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For example plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Brighstone. If you love the flatin Brighstone however your dog can’t make the move with you then you will be faced hard choice. It would be wise to discover as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they can either make your living at the property much simpler or a lot more difficult. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues like the tidiness of the communal areas. Enquire of other tenants if they are happy with their service. In conclusion, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and specifically what you get for your money.