I am purchasing a newly built duplex in Radlett and my solicitor is telling me that she is duty bound to the lender to reveal incentives from the builder. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange and I would rather not delay the conveyancing. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
My property lawyer in Radlett is not on the Clydesdale Conveyancing Panel. Can I still retain my prefered solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Clydesdale list of approved lawyers?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Radlett lawyers but Clydesdale will need to instruct a conveyancer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the total legal charges as well as cause frustration.
- Find a new lawyer to to deal with the purchase, obviously checking they are Clydesdale approved.
- Try to convince your Clydesdale solicitor to attempt to join the Clydesdale panel
We are downsizing from our home in Radlett and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. A local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using an internet conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Radlett. Having lived in Radlett for three years we know of no issue. Do we contact our local Authority to get confirmation need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)
I have recentlybecome aware that Action Conveyancing have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Radlett for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 18 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?
The easiest way to check if the premises is in your name, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Radlett conveyancing specialists.
I am purchasing my first flat in Radlett with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent advised me not to tell my solicitor about this side-deal as it will affect my mortgage 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.
I have been pointed in your direction by a number of property agents in Radlett to find a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to promote your site over a competitor’s?
We refuse to make any financial incentive for sending work to this site. We found it would be just too difficult a fee because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.