I just acquired a house at auction in Pelsall. Conveyancing is required. What is next?

Given that you are now for all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you should retain a conveyancing practitioner quickly as you are faced with a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the purchase. Every auction property will have a corresponding legal pack. This will include evidence of title and search results. If you have purchased leasehold premises the legal pack should contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork pertinent to leasehold premises. You must give this to the conveyancer working for you ASAP. Do make sure that you have funds in order to complete on the on the contractual date .

We have agreed to purchase a house in Pelsall. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender UBS be concerned?

Given that your lender is UBS your lawyer must check the formal requirements contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for UBS. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to UBS where a lease does not comply with these provisions. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not restricted to Pelsall.

I've digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Pelsall solicitor - who is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Nationwide will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nationwide 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 Pelsall 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.

A colleague recommended that where I am buying in Pelsall I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Pelsall conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Pelsall around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Pelsall Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Pelsall Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Pelsall.

My wife and I purchased a terraced Georgian house in Pelsall. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Nottingham Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Pelsall and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Pelsall with the aid of help to buy. The builders would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not inform my conveyancer about the side-deal as it may impact my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

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.

We are in the middle of buying a property in Pelsall. Conveyancing lawyer has told us the title is "Leasehold". Should this adversely affect the marketability of the property?

Pelsall conveyancing does not usually involve leasehold houses. The crucial consideration here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a peppercorn rent, it's almost the same as freehold, so it shouldn't impact the saleability significantly.

At the other end of the spectrum, if it's, say, Sixty years it will have a significant impact on the value, and probably wouldn't be acceptable to the mortgage company. The remaining lease term and ground rent will be stated in the lease to be supplied to your conveyancer.