I am buying a brand new flat in Waltham and my conveyancer is telling me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the seller. The Estate Agents are hassling me to sign contracts and my preference is not to prolong matters. 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 bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

Will commercial conveyancing searches reveal planned roadworks that may affect a commercial premises in Waltham?

Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in Waltham will conduct a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers spend in investigating accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Waltham. The search result sets out definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Waltham.

For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Waltham it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately may result in delays to Waltham commercial conveyancing transactions as well as pose a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not conducted for domestic conveyancing in Waltham.

I got the keys to my flat on 3 February and my personal details are still not on the land registry website. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Waltham said it should be recorded in less than a month. Are titles in Waltham uniquely lengthy to register?

There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Waltham registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timescales can differ depending on the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry need to notify any interested persons or bodies. Currently in the region of 80% of such applications are fully dealt with within 12 days but occasionally there can be longer delays. Registration is effected after the purchaser is living at the property therefore an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue but if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your conveyancer can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Waltham benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not inform my solicitor about this extras as it would adversely affect my mortgage with Halifax. 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 decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Waltham before retaining solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to grant a mortgage on such a property.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you contact us we can check with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Waltham. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Waltham especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Waltham.