A colleague advised me that if I am buying in Grantham I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Grantham conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Grantham around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Grantham Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Grantham Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Grantham.

I used Wolstenholmes several years past for my conveyancing in Grantham. I now require my papers but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Grantham of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I am buying a new build house in Grantham with a loan from The Royal Bank of Scotland. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about this extras as it would impact my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Grantham is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can give?

Flying freeholds in Grantham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Grantham you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Grantham may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for remortgage conveyancing in Grantham. I have land on a site which seems to have the perfect offering If it is possible to get all the legals done via phone that would be preferable. Should I be concerned? What are the potential pitfalls?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?