My wife and I are acquiring a new build flat in Havant and my solicitor is advising me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the builder. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange contracts and my preference is not to delay deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancing practitioner. A precondition to being on a mortgage company 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.

When will exchange of contracts happen for purchase conveyancing in Havant and do I need to be at the lawyers branch?

Where you are in close proximity to our conveyancing solicitors in Havant you are welcome to attend to sign documents. That being said, the law practices we work with supply a national conveyancing service and give just as comprehensive and professional a job for you when dealing with you digitally. The executing of the contract is not the important part. A signed contract is just a prerequisite for the solicitor to exchange contracts when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The procedure is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where an extended "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Havant)to be in the office at the appropriate time.

Do I select a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Havant?

There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in Havant and Solicitor firms in Havant who can assist with your conveyancing We would stress that the two are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal aspects of the home buying process. Both can handle associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.

Can you point me to a directory of Santander panel conveyancers in Havant on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?

Unfortunately not yet. There is no such facility on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few banks make their panel listings viewable over the internet. If you are seeking to appoint a Havant property lawyer on the Santander please make the most of our facility.

We were going to get a DIP from UBS this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do UBS recommend any Havant solicitors on the UBS conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?

You will need to appoint Havant solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the UBS conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and UBS through the process.

My wife and I may need to let out our Havant garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Havant conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Havant do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Havant Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

Many Havant leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the management company. If you buy the flat you will have to pay this amount, usually in instalments accross the year. This can vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common areas. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a large figure, say around £50-£100 but you should to check as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability?

My husband and I are acquiring a ground floor flat in Havant. When we first instructed conveyancing practitioner, they assured us that they were on all mainstream mortgage company panels. Our financial adviser called today to say that they are not on the RBS approved list. Were it to be true, what should we do? Should we simply choose a different conveyancing practitioner that is on their approved list or do we pay for separate representation, with RBS appointing their own approved conveyancer.

If you are purchasing a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchaser’s lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a property lawyer has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the conveyancing practitioner to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the conveyancing practitioner has to satisfy. Some banks now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your conveyancing practitioner should call RBS to discover if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on RBS's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Havant lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.