Our son is about to exchange on a newly built flat in Durrington with a home loan from Yorkshire BS. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?

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 Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. 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 Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

We are expecting a mortgage offer soon. The lender mentioned the loan came with free conveyancing. Is the implication that I have to use their panel solicitor as I would much rather use a Durrington based conveyancing firm?

You should check but the the probability is that appoint one of their panel lawyers if you want the "fee-free" offer. Contact the lender and explore if they make available a monetary alternative. In the past a few lenders offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case you could put that amount towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor in Durrington.

This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as FTB of a garden flat in Durrington. Do I pick up the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in Durrington?

On the day of completion you will not be required to go to the conveyancers office in Durrington. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be called to receive the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.

Is it the case that all Durrington CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel?

Some major lenders now use the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to remain on their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.

The mortgage over my property is with Lloyds for my property in Durrington. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Lloyds?

Lloyds must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Lloyds’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Lloyds directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Lloyds conveyancing panel lawyer.

I need some expedited conveyancing in Durrington as I am faced with pressure to complete within one month. A mortgage is not required. Can I avoid the conveyancing searches to save money and time?

If.Given you are are a mortgage free purchaser you are at liberty not to do searches although no conveyancer would suggest that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in Durrington the following are instances of issues that can show up and adversely impact future mortgageability: Refused Planning Applications, Outstanding Charges, Overdue Grants, Unadopted Roads,...

I'm buying my first flat in Durrington with a mortgage from Britannia. The developers would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep advised me not disclose to my solicitor about the extras as it will jeopardize my mortgage with Britannia. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.