I am thinking of mortgaging my house in Wareham, does my lawyer have to be on the Principality Conveyancing panel?

There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Principality will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is greater potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.

What will a local search reveal concerning the house I am purchasing in Wareham?

Wareham conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for instance Xpress Legal The local search is essential in every Wareham conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your new home. The search will provide data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (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 subject sections.

My wife and I purchased a renovated Georgian property in Wareham. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Bank of Ireland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. Is it worth asking Bank of Ireland to clarify?

You should read 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Wareham and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.

I'm buying my first flat in Wareham with a mortgage from Halifax. The sellers would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not inform my conveyancer about the side-deal as it could impact my mortgage with the bank. 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.

Is it best to go with a Wareham conveyancing lawyer who is local to the property I am buying? We have a good friend who can handle the legal formalities however her office is a couple of hundredmiles drive away.

The primary upside of using a high street Wareham conveyancing practice is that you can visit the firm to execute paperwork, deliver your ID and pester them if necessary. Having local Wareham know how is a plus. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have used your friend and the majority were content that must trump using an unknown Wareham conveyancing solicitor just because they are round the corner.