I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a relatively new development (6 years built) in St Mawes. 95% of the flats have already been sold. Is it strictly necessary to order conveyancing searches for my conveyancing in St Mawes?

If you getting a loan, your bank will need some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then St Mawes conveyancing searches are for you to decide upon. Your solicitor, will 'advise', perhaps in the strongest possible terms, that you should not go ahead without searches, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you demand that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or you will need to change to an alternative solicitor for your conveyancing in St Mawes.

Is there a reason why leasehold purchase conveyancing in St Mawes is more expensive?

St Mawes leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.

My relative advised me that where I am buying in St Mawes I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard St Mawes conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about St Mawes around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the St Mawes Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding St Mawes.

Me and my brother have a terraced Victorian property in St Mawes. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Birmingham Midshires. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be 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 St Mawes and other areas of 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 buyers. You can also check the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.

I am purchasing my first flat in St Mawes with a loan from Platform Home Loans Ltd. The developers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not reveal to my conveyancer about this side-deal as it would jeopardize my mortgage with Platform Home Loans Ltd. 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.