Please help. My Stansted solicitor is assuring me that she is duty bound toconduct Stansted conveyancing searches due to the fact thatthe firm are on the Nat Westsolicitor panel. Do I not have any say here?

Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are taking a mortgage with a mortgage company your conveyancer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancing practitioner would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the CML Handbook specifications . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Stansted conveyancing searches.

When can the exchange of contracts occur in sale conveyancing in Stansted and do I need to be at the lawyers office?

If you are local to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Stansted you are invited in to sign contracts. That being said, the lender approved solicitors we recommend supply countrywide coverage for conveyancing and give just as detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you digitally. The signing of the contract is not when everything is set in stone. Signing on the dotted line is necessary for the conveyancer to exchange contracts at the suitable time, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where a lengthy "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Stansted)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.

I am purchasing my first flat in Stansted benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not disclose to my lawyer about the side-deal as it will impact my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.

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 am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one close by in Stansted I like with a park and station nearby, however it's only got 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Stansted suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?

If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

In searching the world wide web for the term conveyancing in Stansted it shows results of many property lawyersin the area. How do I determine which is the right conveyancer for me?

The preferential method of finding the right conveyancer is via trusted testimonial, so seek the opinion of friends and relatives who have acquired a property in Stansted or the respected estate agent or mortgage broker. Fees for conveyancing in Stansted vary, so it's sensible to request at least three costs illustrations from different companies. Make sure that you clarify that the charges are guaranteed not to to be inflated.