Will lawyers ask for money up-front for my conveyancing in Cross Keys?

If you are buying a property in Cross Keys your lawyer will ask you to provide them with monies to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is as part of the total price then this should be needed shortly in advance of exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is needed will be payable shortly before completion.

Can you clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Principality Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Cross Keys?

The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.

My wife and I purchased a terraced Victorian house in Cross Keys. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Aldermore. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You should assess 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Cross Keys and other locations in 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 lenders. You can also question the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.

I am purchasing my first flat in Cross Keys benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent told me not reveal to my lawyer about this deal as it could put at risk my mortgage with Coventry Building Society. 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.

Me and my fiance have just had an offer agreed on a house and had meeting on Wednesday with the Post Office for the mortgage. They advised us that when it comes to choosing a property lawyer that if they are not on their approved list of conveyancing practitioners then we will incur an additional fee of £200. This is because they would then have to select a property lawyer to act on their behalf as well as the one we select for ourselves and we assume responsibility for their fees. I have asked the Post Office to provide me with a list so I can request quotes only from their approved lawyers but was told that I need to check with each individual conveyancer to see if they are on the panel. What would be the best way of going about this?

You should ask the Post Office what their panel criteria is for a solicitor.Thereafter ask the conveyancer of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on mortgages for the Post Office previously. Where the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with the Post Office. Alternatively please use our search facility and we should be able to locate a conveyancing practitioner in Cross Keys on the approved list for the Post Office.