My partner and I are hoping to buy a home in Audlem and are in fact using a Audlem conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Norwich and Peterborough Building Society have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Audlem solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Audlem solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Can I use your services to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Audlem even if I’m not purchasing or disposing of a house, for example where I intend to acquire a shop in Audlem with a mortgage from Norwich and Peterborough Building Society?

Our comparison service is predominantly utilised to select residential conveyancing solicitors in Audlem but we have recorded at the end of this page some Audlem commercial conveyancing firms. You will need to enquire with the firm directly to see if they are also authorised to represent Norwich and Peterborough Building Society

I am considering applying for a Yorkshire BS mortgage for purchase of a new build (under development) in Audlem with 70% loan to value. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Yorkshire BS ?

In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel, but Yorkshire BS would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same conveyancing matter.

I got the keys to my home on 1 October and my personal details is yet to be registered. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Audlem said it will be recorded in a couple of weeks. Are properties in Audlem particularly slow to register?

As far as conveyancing in Audlem is concerned, registration is no faster or slower than the rest of the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can differ according to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry need to notify any third parties. Currently approximately 80% of such applications are completed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to longer hold-ups. Registration is effected once the new owner is living at the premises thus registration formalities is not usually primary concern but where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your lawyers could communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.

I am buying a new build house in Audlem with a loan from Godiva Mortgages Ltd. The sellers would not reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep told me not inform my conveyancer about this deal as it may jeopardize my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.