We have rather pushy vendors who has suggested a exclusivity contract with a non-refundable deposit 10k. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?

Exclusivity contracts are contracts between a home vendor and purchaser granting the buyer a ‘clear field’ to the sale of the property for a set period of time. For all intents and purposes, a lock out is a document specifying that you should have a contract at a later time which is the main conveyancing contract. It tends to be used for buyer confidence though in some cases, the proprietor may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are various pros and cons to using an agreement but you should to check with your solicitor but note that it may result in incurring extra in conveyancing fees. For this these contracts are not popular when it comes to conveyancing in Reading.

What is the best way to discover of the solicitor carrying out my conveyancing in Reading is on the lender’sconveyancing panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for TSB thus paying £192.00 in further legal bill.

Feel free to make the most of the find a conveyancing panel solicitor tool on this page. Pick the lender and type ‘Reading’ or your location and you will be presented with a number of lawyer based in Reading or nearest you.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Reading benefiting from help to buy. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent suggested that I not inform my lawyer about the extras as it would adversely affect 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.

I decided to have a survey completed on a property in Reading before retaining conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks tend not grant a mortgage on such a house.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Reading. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Reading to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Reading. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Reading - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Reading Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before buying

What is the name of the managing agents? How is the lease structured?