Me and my partner are hoping to purchase a 3 bedroom flat in Avonmouth with a mortgage. We have a Avonmouth conveyancer, but the lender says she’s not on their "panel". It appears that we have no choice but to select one of the mortgage company panel firms or retain our Avonmouth solicitor and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; can we not require that the lender use our Avonmouth lawyer ?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower 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 Avonmouth conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Avonmouth? What am I being asked for?

In order to comply with Money Laundering Regulations any Avonmouth conveyancing firm will require evidence of your identity in all conveyancing matters. This is normally satisfied by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility bill showing your correct address.

In accordance with Money Laundering Regulations, property lawyers are duty bound to validate not just the identity of conveyancing clients but also the origin of monies that they receive in respect of any matter. Refusal to disclose this will lead to your conveyancer terminating their relationship with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.

Your property lawyers will have an obligation to make a disclosure to the appropriate authorities should they believe that any monies received by them may contravene the Money Laundering Regulations.

We are selling our flat in Avonmouth. Will my solicitor need to be on the Principality conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Principality conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently at the moment.

Do commercial conveyancing searches disclose proposed roadworks that may impact a commercial property in Avonmouth?

Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Avonmouth will conduct a SiteSolutions Highways report as it reduces the time that conveyancers expend in investigating accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Avonmouth. The search result sets out definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Avonmouth.

For each commercial conveyancing transaction in Avonmouth it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been addressed adequately could result in delays to Avonmouth commercial conveyancing transactions as well as pose a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not carried out for domestic conveyancing in Avonmouth.

I need to find a conveyancing solicitor for some conveyancing in Avonmouth. I have stumble upon a web site which seems to have the ideal offering If there is a chance to get all formalities completed via phone that would be preferable. Should I be wary? 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?