Our son is about to exchange on a newly built flat in Highcliffe with a home loan from Bank of Ireland. His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?

The document is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer 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 Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

The Highcliffe conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my purchase in Highcliffe have without warning closed. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the HSBC conveyancing panel and my previous Highcliffe lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What do I do now?

If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the HSBC conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my home can not be found. The solicitors who conducted the conveyancing in Highcliffe 4 years ago are no longer around. What do I do?

As long as the title is registered the information relating to your proprietorship will be retained by HMLR under a Title Number. It is possible to conduct a search at the Land Registry, identify your house and order current copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. If the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases retain a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for a small fee.

Is it simple use the search facility to find a conveyancing lawyer in Highcliffe on the panel for my bank?

First select a bank such as Nationwide Building Society, The Royal Bank of Scotland or Aldermore then choose your location for example Highcliffe. Conveyancing practices in Highcliffe and across England and Wales should be shown.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Highcliffe. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Highcliffe are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Highcliffe in which case you should be shopping around for a Highcliffe conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.

Highcliffe Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Be sure to discover if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Highcliffe. If you love the flatin Highcliffe yet your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you have a very difficult choice. It would be wise to discover as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they can either make your life much easier or uncomfortable. Being a leasehold owner you are often at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day issues like the cleanliness of the common parts. Enquire of other tenants whether they are happy with them. Finally, be sure you know the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the relevant party and specifically what it includes. How long is the Lease?