I am selling my ground floor flat in Nether Stowey and the EA has just telephoned to say that the purchasers are swapping property lawyer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a big named mortgage company only work with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Nether Stowey ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.

Lenders blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to reveal 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. The purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.

We are acquiring our first home. Our conveyancing practitioner has texted usto enquire if we want to order extra conveyancing searches. We are really unsure what's necessary for conveyancing in Nether Stowey

The range of Nether Stowey conveyancing searches should be dictated primarily on the premises, the location, the likelihood of any of these risks, your familiarity of the locality and risks, your overall appetite to risk. What matters is that you properly comprehend what information each search could supply. Then you can decide if you personally think you need that information. Where you are uncertain, ask the conveyancer to offer guidance.

We wanted to use a property lawyer in Nether Stowey for our house purchase. Our broker has since advised us that our mortgage company Bank of Scotland won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unduly restrictive?

Banks on the whole restrict either the type or the volume of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must not be a sole practitioner. In addition to restricting the profile of firm, some have reduced the number of solicitor practices they permit to act for them. Be aware that Bank of Scotland have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Bank of Scotland Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a primary driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago even though there are mixed opinions about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms, including some in or near Nether Stowey only carry out one or two conveyances per annum.

I am looking for a flat up to £195,000 and found one near me in Nether Stowey I like with a park and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Nether Stowey in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?

If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.

I have been Googling for Nether Stowey online conveyancing estimates. Can I be confident that all the Nether Stowey firms that are identified on your directory are on the lender conveyancing panel?

The law firms on our directory have advised us that they are on the mortgage company panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the lender panel. To date we have not been informed by either a bank or a member of the public that the data about a specific Nether Stowey conveyancing solicitor being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel is not accurate.