I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Chester le Street. My lender is The Mortgage Works
The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 10/10/2025, the requirements read as follows :
I am assisting my mother sell her flat in Chester le Street. Will the conveyancing solicitor arrange an energy performance certificate or should I organise this?
After the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates remained a mandatory component of moving house. An energy assessment needs to be commissioned before the property is advertised. It is not as aspect of the sale process that solicitors ordinarily organise. If you are instructing a Chester le Street conveyancing solicitor they might be willing to arrange EPC’s due to their relationships with long established local providers
A relative advised me that in buying a property in Chester le Street there may be various restrictions prohibiting external changes to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in Chester le Street which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Chester le Street should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Bank of Ireland. Chester le Street conveyancing lawyers have been instructed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Bank of Ireland?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Bank of Ireland done the survey? Have you informed Bank of Ireland as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I appreciate that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I require chancel insurance when buying a residence in Chester le Street? or I am told that there is an ancient law that could mean that house owners residing in a parish church boundary may be liable to contribute towards repairs towards the chancel within the church. Is this suitable for conveyancing in Chester le Street?
Unless a prior acquisition of the property completed post 12 October 2013 you could expect conveyancing practitioners delivering conveyancing in Chester le Street to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Chester le Street?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Chester le Street. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I'm purchasing a new build house in Chester le Street with a mortgage from Nottingham Building Society. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative suggested that I not disclose to my conveyancer about this deal as it will affect my mortgage with Nottingham Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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 was advised by a number of property agents in Chester le Street to choose a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to market your lawyers over and above another?
We don’t offer any commission for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We found it would be just too difficult a fee because members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.