We opted for a high street firm for my conveyancing in Staindrop today. After carefully reading the Terms and Conditions it is apparent thatwe are on the hook for charges even if the movedoes not go ahead. Should I go with them or use a web based firm offering no-sale-no-fee conveyancing in Staindrop?

Generally there is a concession along the lines that if "No Completion No Fee" is available then the conveyancing charges will generally be higher to cover the cases that abort. Please beware that these offerings tend not to cover expenditure e.g. Staindrop conveyancing search expenses.

My partner and I are buying a brand new flat in Staindrop and my lawyer is informing me that she is duty bound to the bank to reveal incentives from the builder. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange 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 conveyancer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

The Staindrop conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Staindrop have without warning closed. I chose them because I needed a firm on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and my family Staindrop lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for £250 in advance. What are my options?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Staindrop with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not inform my solicitor about this side-deal as it would impact my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.

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.

Taking into account that I am about to spend 450k on a terraced house in Staindrop I would like to have a conversation with the lawyer regarding theconveyancing prior to giving the go ahead to the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?

Absolutely - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the conveyancer due to be doing your property ownership legalities in Staindrop.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important individual, not a file number. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are calculated and presented to you for your conveyancing in Staindrop should be the amount on the final invoice that you are charged.