I am selling my home in Wigton. Does the property lawyer need to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Skipton conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently currently.

My aunt pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Wigton there could be various restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external alterations to a property. Is this right?

There are anumerous of properties in Wigton which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Wigton should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

My solicitor has informed me that lack of building regulations insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Wigton?

The right level of lack of building regulations indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Yorkshire Building Society and Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.

Skipton have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a house in Wigton has been accepted, what are the next steps?

Your estate agent will need to know who your solicitors are (make sure the lawyers are on the lender’s panel). Telephone Skipton or your financial adviser and finalise any relevant documentation. Skipton will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or owners to book a time for the valuation to happen. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. Skipton will send the offer to you and your conveyancers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Wigton.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Wigton with a mortgage from Chelsea Building Society. The builders refused to move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my solicitor about the deal as it may put at risk my mortgage with Chelsea Building Society. Should I keep quiet?.

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.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in Wigton I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Wigton for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

I am buying a garden maisonette in Wigton. Conveyancing lawyer has been waiting for, from the seller, building insurance paperwork. This morning I was informed that the seller must forward the insurance schedule for the flat above as well. Why does my solicitor need to check the insurance for the other flat? Is it strictly necessary? We have been waiting for the previous month…

It is not unheard of in leasehold conveyancing in Wigton to find Conveyancing in Wigton in a minority of cases reveals that the lease requires the leasehold owners to insure their individual flats as opposed to the landlord insuring the whole property - which is clearly preferable. You should double check with your solicitor but it would seem that your solicitor is looking to verify that the whole building is insured. Insuring your apartment is no help when it comes to rebuilding after a fire if the other flat cannot be reconstructed for lack of insurance cover.