Me and my partner are purchasing a flat in Frenchay Common. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we have to deposit our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Frenchay Common. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

Most lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Frenchay Common. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Soon after, the solicitor called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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.

How does conveyancing in Frenchay Common differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build residence in Frenchay Common contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is completed. This is because house builders in Frenchay Common tend to acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Frenchay Common or who has acted in the same development.

I am looking for a flat up to £245,000 and found one near me in Frenchay Common I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Frenchay Common suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for remortgage conveyancing in Frenchay Common. I've discover a site which seems to have the ideal solution If there is a chance to get all formalities done via web that would be preferable. Do I need to be concerned? What are the potential pitfalls?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?

My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Frenchay Common. I need to find out if they are on the lender's conveyancing panel. Can you advise?

You should contact the conveyancer to enquire if they are on the bank's panel. If that does not help get in touch with us and we can make some checks for you. Should the firm not be on the lender panel we can certainly arrange a quality conveyancing solicitor in Frenchay Common on the panel for your lender.