Are the Peterborough conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Skipton conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Skipton?

Peterborough conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Skipton conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Skipton directly.

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a ground floor flat in Peterborough. Do I pick up the keys to the house on the completion date from my solicitor? If so, I will instruct a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Peterborough?

On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Peterborough. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the purchase money to the seller's lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be called to collect the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.

Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. Peterborough conveyancing practitioners have been chosen. How long does it take for Santander to issue the offer to the solicitor?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have Santander conducted the valuation? Have you informed Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.

Having 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 Peterborough 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 correct?

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 Peterborough 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.

I completed on my home on 6 January and my personal details is yet to be on the land registry website. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Peterborough expressed confidence that it should be formalised in a couple of weeks. Are titles in Peterborough particularly slow to register?

There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Peterborough registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can adjust depending on the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any interested parties. As of today roughly three quarters of such applications are fully addressed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to extensive delays. Historically registration is effected once the new owner has moved in to the premises so an expedited registration is not usually primary concern yet where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor can contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.

I'm buying my first flat in Peterborough with a mortgage from The Royal Bank of Scotland. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my conveyancer about this deal as it may affect my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.

Why do Peterborough conveyancing charges differ for leasehold and freehold properties?

If acquiring a leasehold property there is more work involved purely due to the fact that usually there are further parties involved in the form of the freeholder and/or Management Agents. As part of a lawyers enquiries they will check that all ground rent and service charges are paid up to date amongst other general leasehold matters. For this reason, the Sellers lawyers usually have to refer to the freeholder or Managing Agent for their replies to our questions. This may be time consuming and beyond the lawyers control