I am acquiring a new build apartment in Somerstown and my conveyancer is informing me that she has to the bank to disclose incentives from the builder. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange contracts and my preference is not to prolong the conveyancing. is my lawyer playing by the book?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Somerstown. Now, I need the documents however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Somerstown of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Somerstown is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Somerstown are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Somerstown you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Somerstown may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

What tools are available to identify a Somerstown solicitor on the Alliance & Leicester conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am happy to travel upto 10kilometers to meet the lawyer.

Feel free to make use of the facility on this website. Please choose the mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Somerstown conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Somerstown conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can contact them to verify if they are on the Alliance & Leicester member panel

My father completed his conveyancing in Somerstown eight years ago. He has since got wed, widowed and is now remarried. He will be selling the apartment next winter. I suspect that he will just be asked to provide a copy of his marriage certificates to the solicitor however he is anxious it will delay the conveyancing. Is it worth updating the Land Registry information for the house?

It is not absolutely necessary to bring up to date the title for the property as long as you have the evidence required to show how the name change has come about.

The buyer’s lawyer should check the registered entries and request evidence to prove the change of name for instance marriage certificates.