I am helping my aunt sell her flat in Iver. Will the conveyancing solicitor arrange the energy performance certificate or should I organise this?

After the demise of Home Information Packs, energy assessments became a mandatory part of moving property. An energy performance certificate must be to hand before the property is marketed. This is not a task that lawyers normally organise. If you are using a Iver conveyancing lawyer they might be willing to arrange energy performance certificates due to their relationships with reputable Iver accredited person

Are all Iver Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the HSBC conveyancing panel?

Some major lenders now make use of the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their panels.

We previously chose conveyancers locally in Iver on the HSBC solicitor panel. They have just billed me a further sum for the legal aspects of the HSBC mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by HSBC?

Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancer can levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by HSBC but by your Iver conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the HSBC panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

I purchased a semi-detached Edwardian house in Iver. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Clydesdale. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Iver and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who completed the work.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Iver benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The sale representative suggested that I not to tell my solicitor about the deal as it would put at risk my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

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.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one round the corner in Iver I like with open areas and station nearby, however it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Iver suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

My financial adviser has suggested using their conveyancer for my conveyancing in Iver - Surely it’s advisable to just use them?

This is not necessarily the case and you are entitled to use whichever property lawyer you decide for your Iver home move. The solicitor recommended by a 3rd party adviser may not always be the best conveyancer, they may put forward their own conveyancing firm who are based remotely. In this instance you may not have contact with your solicitor and due to the lack of continuity in the transaction, it may be difficult to obtain progress reports.