We had selected solicitors with offices in Portslade on the Clydesdale solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a further fee for the legal aspects of the Clydesdale mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Clydesdale?

Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your solicitor is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Clydesdale but by your Portslade conveyancer. Plenty of firms on the Clydesdale panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.

I'm in the throws of looking at flats in Portslade and I am about to put in an offer. Is it wise to have my property lawyer on ‘stand by’? I intend to finance via a home loan with HSBC.

You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the EA. As you are obtaining a mortgage with HSBC, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel.

Leeds Building Society have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a property in Portslade has been accepted, now what?

Your property agent will want to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the lawyers are on the bank’s panel). Telephone Leeds Building Society or your financial adviser and complete any appropriate documentation. Leeds Building Society will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or vendor to book a slot for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. Leeds Building Society will send the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Portslade.

We are selling our house in Portslade and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. A high street Portslade lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers are using a national conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Portslade. We have lived in Portslade for many years we know of no issue. Do we contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation that there is no issue.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer already. Are they able to advise? You need to enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)

I am buying my first flat in Portslade with a mortgage from Virgin Money. The developers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not disclose to my lawyer about the side-deal as it would jeopardize my loan with Virgin Money. 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.

Given that I will soon spend 450k on a house in Portslade I would like to talk to a solicitor concerning thehome move in advance of instructing the firm. Can this be arranged?

This is something that we encourage - we would be delighted to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the solicitor who will be conducting your property ownership legalities in Portslade.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is unique individual, not a case reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are provided with for your conveyancing in Portslade should be the figure that you are charged.

My uncle has recommend that I use his conveyancing solicitors in Portslade. Should I use them?

Much as we are happy to recommend a Portslade conveyancing lawyer the ideal way to select a conveyancing lawyer is to seek recommendations from friends or relatives who have actually previously instructed the conveyancer you're contemplating using.