My husband and I are buying a new build apartment in Knebworth and my lawyer is advising me that she has to the lender to reveal incentives from the developer. I am under pressure to exchange contracts and my preference is not to prolong matters. is my lawyer playing by the book?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Knebworth. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £225. Soon after, the lawyer called me to say that they were not on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Co-operative panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in August 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Barclays are being difficult. The Knebworth solicitor who is on the Barclays conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Barclays are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Barclays have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Barclays have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Barclays may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

I was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by HSBC. Is it usual for HSBC to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Knebworth is approved on their conveyancing panel? HSBC have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for HSBC to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I am buying a new build house in Knebworth with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to move on the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about the side-deal as it will impact my loan with Leeds Building Society. 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.

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one near me in Knebworth I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Knebworth in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a mortgage that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.

I own a leasehold house in Knebworth. Conveyancing and Godiva Mortgages Ltd mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Knebworth who acted for me is not around. Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Knebworth conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I own a 2 bed flat in Knebworth, conveyancing formalities finalised 4 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Knebworth with an extended lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2098

With just 74 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.