My wife and I are buying a newly built apartment in Cowbridge and my lawyer is informing me that she is duty bound to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the seller. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange contracts 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 property lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

Is there a reason why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Cowbridge is more expensive?

The conveyancing fees for a leasehold property in Cowbridge is inevitably greater as compared to a freehold property. This is because there is an amount of supplemental time required in corresponding with the landlord and management company to collate the information concerning whether the rent and service fee have been paid and whether there are any major works due in the near future on repairs or maintenance of the block.

Me and my brother have a terraced Victorian property in Cowbridge. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Godiva Mortgages Ltd. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Cowbridge and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.

I am purchasing my first flat in Cowbridge with a loan from Birmingham Midshires. The sellers would not budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative told me not reveal to my lawyer about this side-deal as it may put at risk my loan with Birmingham Midshires. 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 am using a search engine for the term cheap conveyancing in Cowbridge it shows results of many solicitorsin the vicinity. How do I determine which is the right solicitor for the sale of my house?

The best method of seeking the right conveyancer is via personal recommendation, so ask friends and relatives who have bought a property in Cowbridge or a reputable estate agent or mortgage broker. Costs for conveyancing in Cowbridge vary, so it's a good idea to request at least four fee calculations from varying types of companies. Make sure that you know what costs in the quote includes.