Our god-son is purchasing a new build apartment in Dorset with a mortgage from Santander. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?

The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Santander conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Santander conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

I am thinking of mortgaging my home in Dorset, does my lawyer have to be on the HSBC Conveyancing panel?

There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but HSBC will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is much more potential for delays and confusion with two solicitors involved, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.

I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Dorset. Now, I need the documents however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Dorset of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I am purchasing a new build house in Dorset with the aid of help to buy. The builders would not move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my solicitor about the extras as it could impact my mortgage with National Westminster 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.

I have just appointed agents to market my basement flat in Dorset. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, however I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you pay the service charge as you normally would because all ground rent and maintenance payments will be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Dorset - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the property? The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the lessees have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. You should be aware that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this will be. For most Dorsetlease extensions you will be be obliged to have owned the premises for two years in order to be eligible to exercise a lease extension.