Our nephew is about to exchange on a new build apartment in Totton with a mortgage from . His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?

The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. 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 conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

What will a local search inform me concerning the property I am buying in Totton?

Totton conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for instance Xpress Legal The local search is essential in every Totton conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant once you have moved into your new home. The search should supply data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject headings.

I have a renovated Victorian property in Totton. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. Is it worth asking to clarify?

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Totton and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who completed the work.

I am one month into a leasehold purchase having been directed to a firm by the high street agent to handle our conveyancing in Totton. I am not happy. Can you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?

A lawyer would have to be really poor in order to consider replacing them. Has the mortgage been generated? If so you need to make them aware of the new contact details and ensure the loan are re-issued. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid supplemental expenses and frustration. So that should be your starting point. Our find a solicitor tool will help you find a lender approved conveyancer for your home move in Totton

Much to my surprise my conveyancer in Totton has informed me that he requires personal identification documents stating that this is part of his requirements as a conveyancer on the mortgage company Solicitor 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 unique to conveyancing in Totton