I am buying a brand new duplex in Queen's Park and my conveyancer is advising me that she is duty bound to the lender to disclose incentives from the developer. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to sign contracts and my preference is not to prolong the conveyancing. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a bank 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.

Do lenders provide you with an approved list of Queen's Park conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel?

Queen's Park conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Lloyds directly.

I am buying my first flat in Queen's Park benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not disclose to my conveyancer about the deal as it would affect my mortgage with Birmingham Midshires. 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 was advised by a few selling agents in Queen's Park to locate a property lawyer on your site. What’s the financial advantage for Estate Agents to market your lawyers over and above another?

We don’t make any financial incentive for directing people to this site. We thought it would be too underhand a fee because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Queen's Park with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Queen's Park can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing. If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Queen's Park state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance. Many freeholders or Management Companies in Queen's Park levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Queen's Park.

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Queen's Park. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

if there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Queen's Park property is 4 & 4A Charteris Road in June 2009. the Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the enfranchisement of 4/4a Charteris Road to be £15,510 for at 4and £15,694 for at 4a This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 70.02 years.