We are buying a newly built duplex in Corwen and my solicitor is telling me that she has to the bank to disclose incentives from the developer. The Estate Agents are hassling me to sign contracts and I don't want to prolong matters. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on a lender 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.

I am purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Corwen. We would like to convert the garage to an office at the property.Will legal due diligence on the property involve investigations to determine if these works are prohibited?

Your property lawyer will check the registered title as conveyancing in Corwen will on occasion reveal restrictions in the title documents which prohibit categories of changes or require the permission of a 3rd party. Many works require local authority planning consent and approval in compliance with building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. It would be prudent to check these things with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.

We had instructed conveyancers locally in Corwen on the HSBC solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional amount for the legal aspects of the HSBC mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by HSBC?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner is entitled to charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by HSBC but by your Corwen property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the HSBC panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

My partner and I have arranged the release of further monies on our mortgage from Kent Reliance as we intend to conduct a loft conversion to our property in Corwen. Are we obliged to select a high street Corwen solicitor on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

Kent Reliance don't usually appoint a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel.

My partner and I are downsizing from our home in Corwen and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. A local lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers are using a factory type conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Corwen. Having lived in Corwen for 4 years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to seek confirmation that the buyers are looking for.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor already. What do they say? You need to check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)

4 months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Corwen took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I'm buying a new build house in Corwen with a loan from Birmingham Midshires. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about the side-deal as it will jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. 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.