Me and my husband are purchasing a maisonette in Montacute. My Conveyancer has never been on on the lender approved list. Am I still permitted to use my Montacute conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the lender approved list?

You have numerous alternatives open to you here

• Carry on with your chosen Montacute but your bank will undoubtedly appoint a on their approved panel. This will result in additional fees and likely delay.
• Choose a fresh to conduct the conveyancing, making sure they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Convince your solicitor to do everything possible to get accepted on the bank’s conveyancing panel

We are buying a newly built duplex in Montacute and my solicitor is telling me that she has to the lender to reveal incentives from the seller. The Estate Agents are hassling me to sign contracts and I don't want to delay the conveyancing. Is my lawyer right?

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

My relative suggested that if I am purchasing in Montacute 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 included in the estimate for your Montacute conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Montacute around the property and the people living there. It incorporates 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 Property Price, Crime details, Montacute Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Montacute.

I am buying my first flat in Montacute with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not reveal to my conveyancer about the deal as it will impact my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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 opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Montacute ahead of retaining conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor has said that some lenders may refuse to issue a mortgage on a flying freehold house.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Montacute. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Montacute especially if they are acquainted with such properties in Montacute.