My wife and I are purchasing a new build apartment in St Helens and my lawyer is advising me that she has to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the seller. I am under pressure to sign contracts and I would rather not delay deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?

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

In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in St Helens? What am I being asked for?

You are right in these requests have nothing to do with conveyancing in St Helens. Nowadays you will not be able to complete any conveyancing deal if you have not providing evidence of your identity. This usually takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence plus a council tax bill. Remember if you are supplying your driving licence as proof of ID it needs to be both the paper section as well as the photo card part, one is not satisfactory without the other.

Proof of the source of money is required under Money Laundering Regulations. Don’t be offended when when this is requested of you as your conveyancer will need to have this information on file. Your St Helens conveyancing lawyer will require evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any money from you into their client account and they will also ask further queries regarding the origin of monies.

The deeds to our property are lost. The solicitors who conducted the conveyancing in St Helens 5 years ago have long since closed. Will I be able to sell the house?

Assuming you have a registered title the information relating to your ownership will be held by HMLR with a Title Number. It is easy to execute a search at the Land Registry, identify your house and order up to date copies of the property title for less than a fiver. If the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally retain a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for twenty pounds.

I have been advised by numerous estate agents in St Helens to select a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to recommend your lawyers over and above a competitor’s?

We don’t give any financial incentive for sending work in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in St Helens which have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area.

St Helens Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying

Make sure you find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in St Helens. If you love the flatin St Helens but your dog can’t make the move with you then you have a very difficult decision. The answer will be important as a) areas may cause problems for the block as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if services are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to have all the details Are there any major works in the near future that will add a premium to the service charges?