My husband and I are purchasing a newly constructed duplex in Small Heath and my conveyancer is informing me that she is duty bound to the bank to disclose incentives from the seller. I am under pressure to sign contracts and I don't want to delay deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The UK Finance Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Small Heath. I have a mortgage offer with Barclays. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Barclays, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Small Heath. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me to say that they were not on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Nottingham panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I had an offer accepted on a house in Small Heath on 23/9/2026, valuation was booked five days later, all came back fine. Solicitor appointed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Leeds Building Society and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Leeds Building Society to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I have been told that property searches are the number one reason for stalling in Small Heath house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the top 10 causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Small Heath.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Small Heath with a mortgage from Virgin Money. The developers refused to move on the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not reveal to my conveyancer about this extras as it would jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
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 UK Finance website. UK Finance 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 only have 72 years left on my lease in Small Heath. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?
On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Small Heath.
I purchased a 2 bed flat in Small Heath, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Small Heath with over 90 years remaining are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2095
You have 69 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £9,500 and £11,000 plus legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
We are in the process of acquiring a home in Small Heath. Could our solicitor have the amount we are are buying for private from sites such as Zoopla. How do I make sure this is not disclosed?
HM Land Registry as a matter of law required to reveal price sold data on the official title for residential properties nationwide including homes in Small Heath. The Title Register is an open document, so the Land Registry would be breaking the law if they did not permit access to the register.
You can ask HMLR to hide the amount paid entry yet the answer would be in the negative.