My wife and I are acquiring a newly built duplex in Caernarfon and my solicitor is informing me that she is duty bound to the bank to disclose incentives from the builder. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange and my preference is not to prolong the conveyancing. is my lawyer playing by the book?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

At what point will exchange of contracts take place for residential conveyancing in Caernarfon and do I need to be at the solicitors branch?

If you are round the corner to our conveyancing solicitors in Caernarfon you are welcome to attend to sign contracts. However, the law practices we work with offer a countrywide conveyancing service and provide as equally detailed and professional a job for you when communicating with you digitally. The signing of the sale agreement is not the point of no return. Signing on the dotted line is just a prerequisite for the firm to exchange contracts at the appropriate time, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where a long "chain" is involved, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Caernarfon)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.

We are getting the release of further funds on our home loan from Skipton as we intend to carry out renovations to our house in Caernarfon. Do we need to choose a local Caernarfon solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

Skipton would not normally require firms on their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Skipton conveyancing panel.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Caernarfon solicitor on the UBS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your UBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so

Skipton have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a property in Caernarfon has been agreed to, now what?

The property agent will wish to be advised as to your lawyer's details (make sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the bank’s approved list). Telephone Skipton or your broker and finalise any relevant documentation. Skipton will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or vendor to arrange a slot for the valuation to occur. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a week to receive the mortgage offer. Skipton will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Caernarfon.

Will our conveyancer be raising questions regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Caernarfon.

Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers dealing with homes in Caernarfon. Plenty of people will acquire a property in Caernarfon, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Conveyancers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, but there are a number of searches that may be carried out by the buyer or by their solicitors which should give them a better understanding of the risks in Caernarfon. The standard property information forms given to a buyer’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard inquiry of the vendor to find out whether the property has historically flooded. If the residence has been flooded in past and is not revealed by the vendor, then a buyer may issue a legal claim for losses as a result of such an incorrect answer. A buyer’s solicitors will also order an environmental report. This will reveal whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations will need to be carried out.

I note that you have a post code search directory listing solicitors on the bank conveyancing panel. Do Caernarfon conveyancing firms pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for my own house purchase?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Caernarfon.