Our son-in-law is buying a newly built flat in St Annes with a home loan from Clydesdale. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Clydesdale conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I'm buying a new build house in St Annes with a mortgage from The Mortgage Works. The builders refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep advised me not disclose to my solicitor about this side-deal as it could put at risk my loan with The Mortgage Works. 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 am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in St Annes I like with open areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in St Annes in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Am I right to be suspicious that estate agents that I am dealing with are recommending an internet conveyancing firm rather than a local St Annes conveyancing company?
As is the case with lots of professional services, often referrals from family and friends can be worth their weight in gold. Yet there are numerous players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies might all recommend solicitors to select. Sometimes these conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but occasionally there may be a financial incentive behind the endorsement. You are free to choose your own lawyer. However, bear in mind that some banks operate an approved list of solicitors you have to use for the lender aspect of your transaction.
I have been sourcing a conveyancing lawyer in St Annes for my purchase. Is it possible to review a solicitor's complaints history with the legal regulator?
Anyone can review presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes recorded telephone calls for training purposes.
Our property lawyer in St Annes has requested from me ID documents asserting that this forms part of his legal duty as a solicitor on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. Can this be correct?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offence if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage, your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy the mortgage company. This is not specific to conveyancing in St Annes