My partner and I are looking to buy a flat in Winscombe and are in fact using a Winscombe conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Halifax have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Winscombe solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?

Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors 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 mortgage company 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Winscombe solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

five months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Winscombe completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am buying a new build flat in Winscombe. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Here are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Winscombe

Please supply a car parking plan. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal.

Last December I purchased a leasehold house in Winscombe. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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).

I am the registered owner of a split level flat in Winscombe, conveyancing was carried out in 1999. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Winscombe with an extended lease are worth £185,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2084

With only 60 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £20,000 and £23,000 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

My husband and I are purchasing a three room first floor flatin Winscombe with a home loan from a mortgage company. We like our conveyancer in Winscombe but our lender advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint from the our mortgage company panel firms or stay with our Winscombe conveyancer and pay for one of their panel ones to represent our lender. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The bank mortgage offered to you is subject to conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank's conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels, including many conveyancing solicitors in Winscombe : a mortgagee could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your bank.