Should conveyancers request an advanced payment for conveyancing in Cippenham?

If you are buying a property in Cippenham your lawyer will ask you to provide them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Normally this is needed to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is as part of the sale price then this should be required shortly prior to exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a few days prior to the completion date.

I am considering applying for a Coventry BS mortgage for purchase of a new build (under development) in Cippenham with 60% loan to value. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Coventry BS ?

In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel, but Coventry BS would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same conveyancing matter.

I'm the single recipient of my late father’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Cippenham. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in August. I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship will be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the house in August. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be affected by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the bank as this clause primarily exists to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of properties.

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Cippenham. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A couple of days later, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Nottingham 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 Nottingham 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.

Planning on purchasing a house in Cippenham. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Cippenham solicitor is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel.

Should commercial conveyancing searches disclose planned roadworks that could impact a commercial site in Cippenham?

Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Cippenham will order a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers expend in looking into accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Cippenham. The report provides definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Cippenham.

For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Cippenham it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been addressed adequately could cause delays to Cippenham commercial conveyancing transactions as well as pose a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not conducted for domestic conveyancing in Cippenham.

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

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Cippenham. 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…’