I am assisting my mother sell her property in Burbage. Will the solicitor arrange the EPC or should I organise this?

After the abolition of HIPs, EPC’s was maintained a required part of selling a house. An EPC needs to be to hand prior to the property being marketed. It is not as aspect of the sale process that conveyancers ordinarily organise. Where you are instructing a Burbage conveyancing lawyer they might help arrange energy performance certificates given their contacts with reputable Burbage assessors

is it true that all Burbage solicitor practices on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the SRA. Some banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the CLC.

Bank of Ireland have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a apartment in Burbage has been accepted, what happens next?

The estate agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the solicitors are on the lender’s panel). Telephone Bank of Ireland or the broker and complete any outstanding documentation. Bank of Ireland will sellect a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or seller to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Bank of Ireland will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Burbage.

I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Burbage. Now, I need the documents but the law firm has closed. What do I do?

You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Burbage of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I am purchasing my first flat in Burbage benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about this extras as it would put at risk my loan with Nationwide Building Society. 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.

Am I better off to appoint a Burbage conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am purchasing? An old friend can execute the legal work however they are based over three hundred kilometers away.

The benefit of a high street Burbage conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to sign paperwork, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local Burbage know how is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who instructed your friend and on the whole were content that should outweigh using an unknown Burbage conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Burbage based.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Burbage from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Burbage can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Burbage conveyancing transaction. If a new share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. A minority of Burbage leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors. If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Burbage - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the leaseholders have being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually employed if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. This information is helpful as a) areas can result in problems for the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the managing agents you will need to know about it Does the lease contain onerous restrictions?