I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (five years old) in West Molesey. 95% of the flats are already sold. Is it really necessary to order conveyancing searches for my conveyancing in West Molesey?

If you are purchasing a property with the assistance of a loan, your bank will need some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then West Molesey conveyancing searches are optional. No doubt your conveyancer, will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have the searches done, but he or she is duty bound in this regard. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you insist that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or ask you to appoint a different lawyer for your conveyancing in West Molesey.

We wanted to use a property lawyer in West Molesey for our house move. Our broker informed us that our mortgage company Norwich and Peterborough Building Society won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?

A mortgage company will insist on a panel conveyancer act for it. Borrowers are liable to bear the cost of this. Do use our search facility to choose a solicitor to carry conveyancing in West Molesey on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society approved list of solicitors.

We previously selected conveyancing lawyers based in West Molesey on the Santander solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a further amount for the legal aspects of the Santander mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Santander?

As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your property lawyer may levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Santander but by your West Molesey lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Santander panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.

We are getting a further advance on our home loan from Leeds Building Society as we wish to conduct alterations to our home in West Molesey. Do we need to choose a bricks and mortar West Molesey solicitor on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

Leeds Building Society do not ordinarily instruct a member of their conveyancing panel to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Leeds Building Society panel.

I was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Santander. Is it usual for Santander to only issue the offer once my solicitor in West Molesey is approved on their conveyancing panel? Santander have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Santander to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Santander conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

Will our conveyancer be raising enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in West Molesey.

Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors carrying out conveyancing in West Molesey. Plenty of people will buy a property in West Molesey, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Solicitors are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous checks that may be undertaken by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in West Molesey. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms supplied to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a usual inquiry of the owner to determine if the premises has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred and is not disclosed by the seller, then a buyer may issue a compensation claim as a result of such an misleading response. The purchaser’s conveyancers will also order an enviro search. This will reveal if there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations will need to be made.

I am purchasing my first flat in West Molesey with a loan from Skipton Building Society. The builders would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about the extras as it would affect my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.