My husband and I are purchasing a newly constructed flat in Hartfield and my solicitor is informing me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the developer. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange and I would rather not delay deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Hartfield costs more?
The conveyancing costs for a leasehold property in Hartfield is often higher than on a freehold acquisition or disposal. This is because there is an amount of supplemental time required in liaising with the landlord and management company to obtain information about whether the rent and maintenance fee have been paid and whether there are any major works due in the foreseeable future on repairs or maintenance of the block.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Hartfield. My lender is Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 2/8/2025, the requirements read as follows :
We are downsizing from our property in Hartfield and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. A high street Hartfield conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Hartfield. Having lived in Hartfield for 5 years we know of no issue. Do we contact our local Authority to get confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. 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 health insurance to cover that same illness)
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my property are lost. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in Hartfield 4 years ago no longer exist. What are my options?
Assuming the title is registered the information relating to your proprietorship will be retained by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is easy to carry out a search at the Land Registry, find your property and get current copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for £20 inclusive of VAT.