We are hoping to buy a 1 bedroom flat in Tickton with a mortgage. We have a Tickton conveyancer, however the lender advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel solicitors or keep our Tickton lawyer and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to require that the lender use our Tickton conveyancer ?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Tickton conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My fiance and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Tickton with Aldermore. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Aldermore conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Aldermore. This is solely used to protect Aldermore if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Aldermore had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

What can a local search inform me concerning the house my wife and I buying in Tickton?

Tickton conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for example Searchflow The local search plays an important role in most Tickton conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any nasty once you have moved into your property. The search should provide data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic sections.

I'm buying my first flat in Tickton with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not disclose to my solicitor about this deal as it would put at risk my loan with the lender. 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.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Tickton. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Leasehold Conveyancing in Tickton - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

Make sure you investigate if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example it is very common in Tickton leases that pets are not permitted in certain buildings in Tickton. If you love the flatin Tickton but your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be presented with a hard decision. The answer will be useful as a) areas can result in problems in the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to know about it How is the lease structured?