My husband and I are purchasing a new build duplex in Welshpool and my lawyer is telling me that she has to the mortgage company to reveal incentives from the builder. I am under pressure to sign contracts and I don't want to prolong matters. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a ground floor flat in Welshpool. Do I collect the keys to the house on completion from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Welshpool?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be able to pick up the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. Usually this happens between 1 and 3pm.

Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Welshpool. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.

My sealed bid on a house in Welshpool has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The vendors have put an offer on somewhere, however it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other flats booked. I have instructed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Welshpool. What do I do now? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Co-operative?

It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Welshpool conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your solicitor is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Concerning the subsequent stages this very much depends on the uniqueness of your case, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market the majority of buyers would apply for a home loan with Co-operative and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with the conveyancing in Welshpool.

I have been told that property searches are the number one reason for stalling in Welshpool conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Welshpool.

It has been three months since my purchase conveyancing in Welshpool concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Welshpool conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Welshpool conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Welshpool conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. The following questions might be of use:

What volume of lease extensions have they carried out in Welshpool in the last twenty four months? Can they put you in touch with clients in Welshpool who can give a testimonial?

Welshpool Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before buying

The majority of Welshpool leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block set by the landlord. Where you acquire the flat you will have to pay this amount, normally in instalments accross the year. This may vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. In all probability there will be a rentcharge to be met yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to check as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. It would be sensible to find out as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they can either make your life much easier or uncomfortable. As the owner of a leasehold property you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day matters like the tidiness of the common parts. Enquire of other people if they are happy with their management. On a final note, be sure you know the dates that the service charges are due to the managing agents and specifically how they are spending the funds.