I am progressing with the sale of my apartment in Abercarn and the EA has just e-mailed to advise that the purchasers are swapping solicitor. The excuse is that the bank will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading mortgage company only work with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Abercarn ?

Banks have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that 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 impact on this.

My grandmother passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Abercarn. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £4500. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Skipton, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?

Given you plan to refinance then Skipton will require that you use a conveyancer on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Skipton conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Skipton mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

My wife and I are buying a apartment in Abercarn. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a conveyancer? On completion day we have to send money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our monies?

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.

We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Nottingham. Abercarn conveyancing lawyers have been selected. How long does it take for Nottingham to issue the offer to the lawyer?

There is no definitive answer here. Have Nottingham completed the survey? Have you informed Nottingham as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

I am purchasing a property in Abercarn. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. RBS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As your lender is RBS your lawyer must comply with the formal requirements set out in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for RBS. The CML Handbook includes minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to RBS where a lease fails to satisfy these conditions. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not restricted to Abercarn.

My relative advised me that where I am buying in Abercarn I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your Abercarn conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Abercarn around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Abercarn Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Abercarn.

In my capacity as executor for the will of my father I am selling a property in Newport but I am based in Abercarn. My conveyancer (based 235 miles from merequires that I execute a statutory declaration ahead of completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in Abercarn who can witness this legal document for me?

Technically speaking you are not likely to need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Abercarn based