I am assisting my niece sell her property in Wellington. Will the conveyancing solicitor arrange an EPC or should I organise this?

After the abolition of HIPs, energy assessments was left as a compulsory component of moving house. An EPC needs to be to hand before the property is advertised. It is not a task that conveyancers ordinarily organise. Where you are using a Wellington conveyancing lawyer they may help arrange EPC’s due to their contacts with reputable Wellington assessors

This question may be naive but I am new to the house moving as a first time buyer of a two bedroom flat in Wellington. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will instruct a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Wellington?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the purchase money to the owner’s lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to collect the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. Usually this happens between 1 and 3pm.

HSBC have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a house in Wellington has been agreed to, now what?

The property agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (make sure the property lawyers are on the bank’s approved list). Contact HSBC or your broker and finalise any relevant paperwork. HSBC will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or vendor to book a time for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average a fortnight to get a mortgage offer. HSBC will issue the offer to you and your conveyancers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Wellington.

The deeds to my home are lost. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Wellington 4 years ago are no longer around. What are my next steps?

Nowadays there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your solicitor will know precisely where to find all the relevant documentation so you may buy or dispose of your house without a hitch. Where copies can’t be found, your lawyer can put in place insurance or indemnities protecting you against possible claims on the property.

I am purchasing my first flat in Wellington benefiting from help to buy. The developers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative told me not disclose to my conveyancer about the side-deal as it may put at risk my mortgage with HSBC Bank. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.

Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Wellington in advance of instructing lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not give a mortgage on such a premises.

It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can check via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Wellington. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Wellington especially if they are acquainted with such properties in Wellington.

My solicitors in Wellington have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. At the time of my purchase I took out a mortgage with the bank. Is it case that being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a prescribed period?

It very much depends from lender to lender but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the mortgage company Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting the lender directly.