My husband and I are acquiring a newly built flat in Hornsea and my solicitor is telling me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the developer. I am on a tight deadline to exchange contracts and my preference is not to delay deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?

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

I have a decision in principle. The lender mentioned the home loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to instruct their panel lawyer as I would prefer to use a high street conveyancing solicitor in Hornsea?

You should check but the chances are that allocate you one of their panel lawyers should you take up the "fee-free" deal. Call the mortgage company to determine if they allow a monetary alternative. Some banks have previously offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case you could put that amount towards your preferred conveyancing solicitor in Hornsea.

I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Hornsea. I have a mortgage agreed with Bank of Ireland. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel.

The mortgage over my property is with Leeds Building Society for my property in Hornsea. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Leeds Building Society?

Leeds Building Society must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Leeds Building Society’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Leeds Building Society will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Leeds Building Society directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel firm.

I have instructed a Hornsea solicitor having made sure that they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Kent Reliance will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Kent Reliance will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Hornsea surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

What can a local search inform me about the house we're purchasing in Hornsea?

Hornsea conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for instance Searches UK The local search plays a central part in many a Hornsea conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant once you have moved into your new home. The search should reveal information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic sections.

Two months into a sale of a flat in Hornsea. Conveyancing solicitors are doing their job but we have been asked to pay an extortionate amount from the freeholder. To date we have forked out £250 for a leasehold management information and then a further £134.40 for answers to queries raised by the buyers lawyer.

Neither you or your property lawyer will have any impact over the level of the fee for this information however the average fee for the information for Hornsea leasehold property is £355. For Hornsea conveyancing deals it is usual for the seller to pay for these costs. The freeholder or their agents are not duty bound to address these questions although many will be content to do so - albeit often at high prices disproportionate to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Nor is there any set time limit by which they are duty bound to supply the information.