We are nearing an exchange on a house in Cotham and my parents have transferred the exchange deposit to my conveyancing practitioner. I am now advised that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my solicitor needs to disclose this to my bank. Apparently, in also acting for the lender he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I informed the lender concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really necessary for him to raise this?

Your solicitor is obliged to check with lender to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. The solicitor can only report this to your lender if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Cotham. Conveyancing is required. What is next?

Given that you are now legally committed yourself to purchase you will need to find a conveyancing solicitor as a matter of urgency as you are faced with a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the property. All auction property should have a bespoke legal set of papers. This will include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the conveyancing papers should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation relating to leasehold premises. You must hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. You also need to ensure that your finances are organised to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as a 1st time purchaser of a two bedroom flat in Cotham. Do I collect the keys to the premises on the completion date from my lawyer? If so, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Cotham?

On the day of completion you do not need to go to the conveyancers office in Cotham. Your solicitors will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you should be called to receive the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.

I was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Barclays. Is it usual for Barclays to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Cotham is approved on their conveyancing panel? Barclays have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Barclays to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Barclays conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house are lost. The conveyancers who handled the conveyancing in Cotham 4 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?

These day there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your conveyancer should be aware exactly where to locate all the relevant paperwork so you can purchase or sell your property without any difficulty. If copies are not available, your conveyancer can put in place insurance or indemnities against possible claims on the premises.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Cotham with a loan from HSBC Bank. The builders refused to move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The estate agent suggested that I not disclose to my lawyer about the extras as it would impact my loan with the bank. 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.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Cotham is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Cotham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Cotham you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Cotham may decide 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.