We're in Haslington, First timers buying with a mortgage (lender is Aldermore , and our solicitor is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no lawyer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

My friend recommended that where I am buying in Haslington I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Haslington conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Haslington around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Haslington.

It has been four months following my purchase conveyancing in Haslington took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £170,000. 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 Haslington with a loan from Coventry Building Society. The builders would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not to tell my solicitor about the extras as it may jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. 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.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor apartment in Haslington. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the service charge as usual as all rents and maintenance charges should be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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 Haslington - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying

Who takes charge for maintaining and repairing the building? For most Haslington leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be built into the service charges, although a few managing agents in Haslington obliged leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance.