When does exchange of contracts take place for domestic conveyancing in Penn and do I need to be at the conveyancers branch?

If you are local to our conveyancing solicitors in Penn you are invited in to sign contracts. That being said, the law practices we work with provide a national conveyancing service and provide as equally comprehensive and professional a job for you when communicating with you by post or email. The executing of the contract is not when everything is set in stone. Signing on the dotted line simply enables the conveyancer to address the formalities at the appropriate time, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The procedure is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where an extended "chain" is involved, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Penn)to be in the office at the appropriate time.

My conveyancer has informed me that lack of right of way insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Penn conveyancing?

The appropriate level of lack of right of way indemnity insurance depends on who your lender is. It would differ for example between Nationwide Building Society and Chelsea Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.

I am the sole beneficiary of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in Penn. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in October. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the property in October. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be affected by that. Most lenders would take a practical view as this obligation is principally there to pick up on subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.

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

Clydesdale will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Clydesdale 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 Penn 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.

It has been 3 months following my purchase conveyancing in Penn took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Penn with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep told me not inform my conveyancer about this side-deal as it could put at risk my mortgage with HSBC Bank. Is this normal?.

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.

Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Penn prior to retaining solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies may refuse to issue a loan on this type of premises.

It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you contact us we can check with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Penn. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Penn to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.