My husband and I are acquiring a newly built apartment in Southwold and my solicitor is advising me that she is duty bound to the lender to reveal incentives from the developer. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange contracts and my preference is not to delay deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?

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

If you had a top tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Southwold what would it be?

We would encourage you not to base your choice on the lowest Southwold conveyancing fees. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.

I am due to move home in February. Will my conveyancing solicitor communicate with the removal company on the completion day. On a separate note, can you recommend a removal company in Southwold. Conveyancing firm was organised before I stumbled across this website.

On the afternoon of completion you will need to collect the keys from your estate agent but this can only be done once the vendors lawyers inform the agent that they acknowledge receipt of the completion payment and the keys can be handed over. After that you can tell the removal men that they can start moving you in. We are not in a position to suggest a specific removal organisation but can assist you in locating a residential property solicitor in Southwold or a legal practice with expertise in conveyancing in Southwold.

Are all Southwold Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the UBS conveyancing panel?

A selection of lenders now make use of CQS as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Southwold. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Southwold

Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?

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

Flying freeholds in Southwold are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Southwold you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Southwold may ascertain 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 residence.

We own a leasehold flat in Southwold. Conveyancing was completed in 2010. I have heard that I mustn’t let the the remaining lease term to get too low. Why is that a problem?

Southwold residential long term leases are for a fixed period - often ninety nine years when they started. However many appartments in Southwold were built or converted in the 70’s80’s and so such leases now have under eighty years unexpired. That may seem like plenty of time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage institutions tend to need leases to have a minimum of 75 years unexpired to adequate security. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are approaching seventy five years. To enhance your property value you should be considering whether to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Please note that there are advantages to taking action before the lease hits 80 years as when the lease falls below eighty years the premium you have to pay to extend starts to increase.