I am acquiring a newly constructed flat in St Mellons and my lawyer is informing me that she has to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the developer. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange contracts and I would rather not prolong the conveyancing. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

The deeds to our house can not be found. The conveyancers who did the conveyancing in St Mellons 10 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?

Nowadays there are copies made of almost everything, and your solicitor will know exactly where to look for all the appropriate documentation so you may buy or dispose of your house without a hitch. Where duplicates are not available, your conveyancer can put in place insurance or indemnities against future claims on the premises.

How do I identify a St Mellons solicitor on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 25miles to meet the solicitor.

Feel free to make use of the facility on this page. Please select a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of St Mellons conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have detailed some St Mellons conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can contact them to check if they are on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd approved list

I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in St Mellons for my remortgage. Can I check a firm’s record with the profession’s regulator?

Anyone can search for documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations arising from inquisitions commenced on or after 1 January 2008. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find records about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's history, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. International callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator could recorded call for training reasons.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in St Mellons from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Mellons can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a St Mellons home move. If a new share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later. You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale. Some St Mellons leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in St Mellons - Sample of Queries before buying

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Does the lease include onerous restrictions?