Our son is in the process of securing a new build apartment in Leconfield with a mortgage from HSBC. His conveyancer has said that there is a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?

The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the HSBC conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

I am helping my step-mother sell her property in Leconfield. Will the solicitor commission the EPC or it is for me to see to?

Following the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates remained a compulsory part of selling a property. An energy performance certificate should be commissioned in advance of the property being placed on the market. This is not a task that solicitors ordinarily organise. If you are instructing a Leconfield conveyancing lawyer they might be willing to arrange energy performance certificates given their relationships with reputable Leconfield assessors

We are getting the release of further funds on our home loan from RBS as we intend to carry out alterations to our house in Leconfield. Are we obliged to choose a high street Leconfield solicitor on the RBS conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

RBS would not normally require a member of their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the RBS conveyancing panel.

We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Principality. Leconfield conveyancing practitioners were appointed. How long does it take for Principality to issue the offer to the conveyancing practitioner?

There is no definitive answer here. Have Principality done the survey? Have you advised Principality as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Principality conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Leconfield. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Leconfield

The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore.

In my capacity as executor for the estate of my aunt I am selling a property in Cardiff but reside in Leconfield. My lawyer (who is 260 kilometers awayhas requested that I sign a stat dec ahead of the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Leconfield who can attest this legal document for me?

Technically speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are Leconfield based

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Leconfield from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Leconfield can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ solicitors.
In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Leconfield state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you dont have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance. If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing. You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Leconfield Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

It is important to be aware if fixing the lift or some other major work is anticipated that will be shared amongst the leaseholders and could well materially impact the level of the service fees or result in a specific invoice. Most Leconfield leasehold flats will incur a service charge for maintenance of the block levied by the management company. If you acquire the property you will have to pay this liability, normally periodically throughout the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a large amount, say around £50-£100 but you need to enquire it because on occasion it could be surprisingly expensive.