My nephew is buying a newly built flat in Stanley with a home loan from Aldermore. His conveyancer has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?

The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

A colleague advised me that in purchasing a property in Stanley there may be a number of restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to the property. Is this right?

We are aware of a number of properties in Stanley which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Stanley should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

is it true that all Stanley solicitor practices on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?

As solicitors, in order to be on the Yorkshire BS approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the firms would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

We had selected conveyancers locally in Stanley on the Yorkshire BS solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional amount for the legal aspects of the Yorkshire BS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Yorkshire BS?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancer can charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by Yorkshire BS but by your Stanley conveyancing practitioner. Numerous firms on the Yorkshire BS panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many practices incorporate it on their overall fee.

My wife and I purchased a 4 bedroom Victorian property in Stanley. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Chelsea Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for 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 Stanley and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who completed the work.

We're novice buyers - had an offer accepted, but the selling agent told us that the owners will only go ahead if we appoint the agent's chosen solicitors as they want an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local solicitor used to conveyancing in Stanley

It is highly unlikely the sellers are driving this. Should the vendor desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Try to communicate with the vendors directly and make the point that (a)you are serious purchasers (b)you are ready to go, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you intend to use your preferred Stanley conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will earn the estate agent a commission or meet his conveyancing thresholds pre-set by senior management.

I am are seeking to find a trustworthy conveyancing solicitor in Stanley to buy a house. I I am concerned about appointing the wrong one and there are so many Stanley conveyancing organisations out there...who's the best?

Where you have never instructed a property lawyer before, a trustworthy recommendation from relatives or friends is a great place to start and is often a good barometer of quality. As an alternative option, consult the Law Society’s regional list of lawyers in Stanley or make use of our search facility to choose a conveyancing lawyer in Stanley.