Are the Nottinghamshire conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Virgin Money?

Nottinghamshire conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Virgin Money directly.

I am buying a detached bungalow in Nottinghamshire. Our aim is to carry out a loft conversion at the property.Will legal investigations on the property include checks to ascertain if these alterations are prohibited?

Your solicitor should review the registered title as conveyancing in Nottinghamshire will on occasion reveal restrictions in the title deeds which restrict categories of alterations or need the consent of another owner. Many works require local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Many areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. It would be prudent to check these things with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Leeds Building Society. I assume I don't need a Nottinghamshire conveyancing practitioner on the Leeds Building Society panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Leeds Building Society mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Leeds Building Society mortgage from the register. Leeds Building Society, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Leeds Building Society has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Leeds Building Society has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Nottinghamshire. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £175. Soon after, the solicitor called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the RBS 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 RBS 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.

My wife and I own a terraced Victorian house in Nottinghamshire. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Nottinghamshire 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 position with your conveyancing lawyer who completed the work.

I'm buying my first flat in Nottinghamshire with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent advised me not inform my solicitor about the side-deal as it may put at risk my loan with Lloyds TSB Bank. Is this normal?.

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.

Should I instruct a Nottinghamshire conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am buying? I have an old university friend who can carry out the legal work however her office is 200kilometers away.

The benefit of a local Nottinghamshire conveyancing practice is that you can visit the firm to execute paperwork, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. Having local Nottinghamshire know how is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust instructed your friend and they were content that must outweigh using an unknown Nottinghamshire conveyancing lawyer just because they are round the corner.