My husband and I are approaching an exchange on a flat in Cambourne and my mum and dad have sent the exchange deposit to my property lawyer. I am now advised that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my solicitor needs to make a notification to my bank. Apparently, in also acting for the lender he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I disclosed to the bank concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really necessary for this now to hold matters up?

Your conveyancing practitioner is duty bound to clarify with lender to ensure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. Your solicitor can only disclose this to your mortgage company if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

I am purchasing a new build house in Cambourne with a loan from Aldermore. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not reveal to my lawyer about the side-deal as it would affect my loan with the bank. 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.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Cambourne I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Cambourne for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.

We're novice buyers - agreed a price, yet the property agent informed us that the seller will only move forward if we use their preferred lawyers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a high street solicitor who is accustomed to conveyancing in Cambourne

We suspect that the seller is unaware of this request. Should the owner want ‘a quick sale', alienating a motivated buyer is going to damage their objectives. Contact the sellers directly and make sure they understand (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to instruct your own,trusted Cambourne conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will give their estate agent a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing figures set by head office.

I pay a service charge for my property in Cambourne. As a result of poor financial planning I fell into arrears with remittance. The management company agreed a clearance schedule but there remains approximately £2000 left in arrears.

I want to sell and I am concerned this will jeopardize the sale if I have to settle the arrears in advance. Do I have to settle before - is this achievable?

Do check with the conveyancer undertaking your Cambourne conveyancing but it may be possible to arrange for the debt to be attributed to the buyers. The purchase price payable would be adjusted to reflect the amount of debt they assume. They would then pay the fees once they are the owners.