My wife and I are acquiring a newly built apartment in Bankside and my solicitor is informing me that she is duty bound to the mortgage company to reveal incentives from the seller. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange 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 conveyancer. 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.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Bankside. My lender is Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 28/9/2025, the requirements read as follows :
Does a directory service exist listing Coventry BS panel solicitors in Bankside on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?
No. There is no such facility on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few lending institutions make their panel listings visible on the web. If you are seeking to appoint a Bankside solicitor on the Coventry BS please use our tool.
The mortgage over my property is with Nottingham for my property in Bankside. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Nottingham?
Your original mortgage agreement with Nottingham will provide that you need their approval prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nottingham’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Nottingham will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Nottingham directly. You need not do this via a Nottingham conveyancing panel solicitor.
I've digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Bankside solicitor - who is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Bank of Ireland will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Bank of Ireland will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Bankside postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Bankside.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Bankside with the aid of help to buy. The builders would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative told me not reveal to my lawyer about the side-deal as it will jeopardize my loan with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Bankside ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor has said that some banks tend not issue a loan on such a property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you contact us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Bankside. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Bankside to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
Taking into account that I will soon spend over three hundred thousand on a terraced house in Bankside I would like to have a conversation with the conveyancer about myhome move before appointing the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
We could not agree more - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the lawyer due to be doing your conveyancing in Bankside.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is unique individual, not a file reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are calculated and presented to you for residential conveyancing in Bankside should be the amount on the final invoice that you are charged.