I am 3 weeks into the sale of my ground floor flat in Farnham and the estate agent has just called to say that the purchasers are appointing a new property lawyer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Farnham ?

UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for many years.

Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Farnham for our house purchase. Our broker has since advised us that our mortgage company Alliance & Leicester won't deal with them. Surely this is unfair competition?

Banks ordinarily restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their member panel. Typical examples of such criteria being that a law practice must not be a sole practitioner. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of solicitor practices they permit to act for them. You should note that Alliance & Leicester have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Alliance & Leicester Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of solicitor panels since 2008 even though there remains mixed views regarding the level of solicitor engagement in some of that fraud. Figures from the Land Registry indicate that thousands of law firms, including some in or near Farnham only execute very few conveyances a year.

Should my conveyancer be raising questions about flooding during the conveyancing in Farnham.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers specialising in conveyancing in Farnham. Some people will buy a property in Farnham, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the property. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.

Conveyancers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a various checks that can be carried out by the purchaser or by their solicitors which will figure out the risks in Farnham. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms sent to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a usual inquiry of the vendor to discover whether the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the residence has been flooded in past and is not disclosed by the vendor, then a purchaser could commence a claim for damages stemming from an incorrect reply. A buyer’s solicitors should also conduct an environmental report. This should disclose whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be initiated.

My husband and I are a couple of weeks into a leasehold purchase having been recommend to a firm by the selling agent to do our conveyancing in Farnham. I am am very dissatisfied with the level of service. Can you you assist me in finding new lawyers?

They would have to be very bad in order to consider changing them. Has the loan offer been issued? In the event that it has you will need to advise them of the new contact details and get the mortgage documents are re-sent. Your solicitor ideally needs to be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid supplemental costs and frustration. So that should be your first question of the new solicitors. Our search tool can assist you in finding a bank approved solicitor for your home move in Farnham

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Farnham. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Leasehold Conveyancing in Farnham - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

Be sure to find out if the the lease includes any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in in a block in Farnham. If you love the apartmentin Farnham however your dog is not allowed to move with you then you will be faced difficult compromise. Best to be warned whether changing the roof or some other significant cost is coming up to be shared amongst the leasehold owners and will materially impact the level of the service fees or necessitate a specific invoice. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability?