I was notified today by my lender that my Eaglescliffe solicitor is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. How can I check?

The sensible course of action for you to take is to call your Eaglescliffe lawyer directly. You lawyer should notify you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Eaglescliffe conveyancing firm that is on the approved list of lawyers for your lender.

My husband and I are nearing an exchange on a property in Eaglescliffe and my mum and dad have sent the 10% deposit to my lawyer. I am now informed that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my conveyancer needs to disclose this to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the bank he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I disclosed to the mortgage company concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really necessary for this now to delay the deal?

Your lawyer is duty bound to check with the bank to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only disclose this to your lender if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

I am assisting my sister sell her house in Eaglescliffe. Does the solicitor commission an energy assessment or should I organise this?

Following the demise of Home Information Packs, energy assessments was left as a mandatory component of selling a house. An energy performance certificate needs to be commissioned before the property is advertised. This is not something that conveyancers ordinarily arrange. Where you are instructing a Eaglescliffe conveyancing practitioner they may help arrange energy performance certificates due to their contacts with long established Eaglescliffe assessors

We are getting the release of further monies on our mortgage from Skipton as we want to conduct a loft conversion to our property in Eaglescliffe. Do we need to appoint a bricks and mortar Eaglescliffe solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

Skipton do not ordinarily instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers 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 Skipton panel.

I have finally had an offer on a maisonette in Eaglescliffe agreed to, the vendors do however have a connected purchase. The vendors have offered on a flat, however it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have instructed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Eaglescliffe. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage application with Bank of Ireland started?

It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then valuation, Eaglescliffe conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you should check that your solicitor is on the Bank of Ireland approved list. As to the subsequent phase this very much depends on the specifics of your case, motivation for the property and on the state of the market. In a hot market the majority of buyers will apply for a home loan with Bank of Ireland and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with the conveyancing in Eaglescliffe.

I am buying a new build house in Eaglescliffe with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative advised me not to tell my conveyancer about this extras as it could adversely affect my loan with Nationwide 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.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Eaglescliffe is the location of the property. Can you offer any opinion?

Flying freeholds in Eaglescliffe are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Eaglescliffe you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Eaglescliffe may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.