I sincerely hope you can assist me. My Shillington solicitor is assuring me that he has toconduct Shillington conveyancing searches becausethe firm are on the Santanderapproved lawyer panel. Do I not have any options here?

You have limited options available to you. As you are obtaining a mortgage with a lender your conveyancer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancing practitioner would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the CML Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Shillington conveyancing searches.

We previously appointed conveyancing lawyers with offices in Shillington on the Barclays solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional charge for the legal aspects of the Barclays mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Barclays?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your conveyancer is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Barclays but by your Shillington property lawyer. Numerous firms on the Barclays panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

It is unclear whether my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called into my local Shillington bank branch on a couple of occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My Shillington conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they would not lend in accordance with their published requirements. I simply don't know who is right.

As long as the solicitor is on the lender panel, they must follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook conditions for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.

I've read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Shillington solicitor - who is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Coventry BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Coventry BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Shillington surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

A relative suggested that if I am purchasing in Shillington I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Shillington conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Shillington around the property and the people living there. It includes 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 statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Shillington.

I'm buying a new build house in Shillington with a loan from Birmingham Midshires. The sellers would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The estate agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about this deal as it could jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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 at a couple of flats in Shillington both have about forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Shillington - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

How is the lease structured? The answer will be helpful as a) areas could cause problems in the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will need to have all the details