Please help. My Valley lawyer is informing me me that she is duty bound toconduct Valley conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the HSBCconveyancing panel. Is my conveyancer right?

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

As someone not used to conveyancing in Valley what’s your top tip you can give me for the legal transfer of property in Valley

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Valley and elsewhere in England and Wales is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is plenty of room for friction between you and other parties involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the vendor, selling agent and on occasion your mortgage company. Selecting a law firm for your conveyancing in Valley is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the legal process whose interest is to act in your legal interests and to keep you safe.

We are witnessing a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be at fault for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer ahead of all other parties in the conveyancing process.

What does a local search inform me concerning the house my wife and I buying in Valley?

Valley conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company for instance Xpress Legal The local search is essential in every Valley conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject sections.

My wife and I have a 4 bedroom Georgian house in Valley. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Barclays Direct. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Valley and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.

I am buying my first flat in Valley with a loan from Virgin Money. The builders refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not reveal to my solicitor about this side-deal as it could impact my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.