My partner and I are buying a brand new flat in Corby and my conveyancer is telling me that she has to the lender to reveal incentives from the builder. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange contracts and my preference is not to prolong deal. Is my lawyer right?

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

As I am unsure how the conveyancing bit works what is the most important advice you can give me regarding purchase conveyancing in Corby?

Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Corby and elsewhere in Northamptonshire is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of room for friction between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. For example, the vendor, property agent and even potentially the bank. Appointing a law firm for your conveyancing in Corby an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the transaction whose interest is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.

We are witnessing a worrying ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be at fault for the process being so protracted. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer above all other players in the conveyancing process.

I moved into my house on 2 October and my personal details is yet to be on the land registry website. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Corby expressed confidence that it will be dealt with in a couple of weeks. Are transfers in Corby uniquely lengthy to register?

There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Corby registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timescales can adjust subject to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry communicate with any third parties. At present in the region of 80% of submission are completed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be extensive delays. Registration occurs once the purchaser has moved in to the property therefore 'speed' is not usually top priority yet if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer should communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.

Am I better off to appoint a Corby conveyancing lawyer based in the location that I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can handle the legal formalities but her office is 200miles away.

The primary upside of using a high street Corby conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to sign paperwork, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have used your friend and in the main were happy that should outweigh using an unknown Corby conveyancing solicitor just because they are Corby based.

I happen to be an executor of my recently deceased mother’s Will, with a bungalow in Corby which is to be marketed. The house is unregistered at the Land Registry and I'm advised that some EAs will insist that it is completed before they will proceed. What's the mechanism for this?

In the circumstances you refer to it seems prudent to seek to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. The Land Registry’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and certified copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.