I am helping my niece sell her property in St Austell. Will the solicitor order an EPC or it is for the owner to see to?

After the abolition of HIPs, EPC’s was kept a compulsory component of selling a house. An EPC should be to hand in advance of the property being put on the market. This is not as aspect of the sale process that conveyancers ordinarily arrange. Where you are using a St Austell conveyancing solicitor they may be willing to arrange energy assessments due to their relationships with long established St Austell providers

We previously instructed conveyancers located in St Austell on the Yorkshire BS solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a supplemental amount for the legal aspects of the Yorkshire BS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Yorkshire BS?

As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Yorkshire BS but by your St Austell solicitor. Some firms on the Yorkshire BS panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of practices include it on their overall fee.

I am due to exchange contracts on my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in January 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Co-operative are being pedantic. The St Austell solicitor who is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Co-operative are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Co-operative have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Co-operative have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Co-operative may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

I used Wolstenholmes a few years ago for my conveyancing in St Austell. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in St Austell of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I am purchasing a new build house in St Austell with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The estate agent advised me not to tell my solicitor about this extras as it would jeopardize my loan with Barnsley Building Society. 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.

Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in St Austell ahead of appointing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor advised that some lenders may refuse to issue a mortgage on such a property.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you call us we can check via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in St Austell. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in St Austell to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.

I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing lawyer in St Austell for my purchase. Is there any facility to check a solicitor's record with the legal regulator?

You may find documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find information Pre 2008, or to check a firm's record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator could monitor telephone calls for training reasons.