My fiance and I are looking to purchase a home in Hythe and have instructed a Hythe conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Hythe conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Hythe solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

I am thinking of mortgaging my house in Hythe, does my lawyer have to be on the Conveyancing panel?

There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is greater potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.

I'm buying a new build house in Hythe benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The estate agent told me not reveal to my solicitor about the extras as it could adversely affect my loan with the bank. 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 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've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Hythe is where the house is located. Can you offer any guidance?

Flying freeholds in Hythe are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Hythe you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Hythe may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.

My conveyancer in Hythe has requested from me ID documents asserting that this forms part of his legal duty as a solicitor on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. Is this right?

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 Hythe