The Burwash conveyancing firm handling our Burwash conveyancing has discovered an inconsistency between the surveyor’s assumptions in the home valuation survey and what is in the conveyancing documents. My lawyer has advised that he is duty bound to check that the bank is happy with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my lawyer’s course or action appropriate?

Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for both parties.

Should conveyancers request money up-front for my conveyancing in Burwash?

If you are buying a property in Burwash your lawyer will ask you to provide them with monies to cover the search fees. Normally this is asked for to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. When the down payment is payable against the total price then this should be needed immediately in advance of contracts are exchanged. The final balance that is due should be transferred a couple of days prior to the day of completion.

The Burwash conveyancing solicitors that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Burwash have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I needed a firm on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel and my previous Burwash lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What do I do now?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to help.

I am buying my first flat in Burwash benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not to tell my lawyer about this side-deal as it could jeopardize my mortgage with Clydesdale. 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.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. Burwash is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Burwash are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Burwash you would need to get your solicitor to go 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 Burwash may ascertain 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.