Me and my husband are buying an apartment in Badsey. My Solicitor is not on the mortgage company solicitor list. Is it possible for me to continue with my Badsey conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the bank list of approved lawyers?

Various options include

• Proceed with your preferred Badsey solicitor but your mortgage company will no doubt use a conveyancer from their approved list. This will result in additional charges and potential interruption.
• Appoint a new lawyer to conduct the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Appeal to your property lawyer to seek to join the mortgage company panel

My husband and I are purchasing a purpose built apartment in Badsey with a residential mortgage from Barclays Direct.We have a Badsey conveyancing lawyer but Barclays Direct says her practice is not on their approved list of member firms. we are left little option but to use a Barclays Direct panel firm or keep our high street solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Barclays Direct use our lawyer?

Unfortunately,no. The home loan offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will be on the Barclays Direct approved list. in the past, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find 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 Barclays Direct

Will my conveyancer be raising questions about flooding during the conveyancing in Badsey.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers specialising in conveyancing in Badsey. Some people will purchase a house in Badsey, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.

Conveyancers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that may be undertaken by the purchaser or by their lawyers which will give them a better understanding of the risks in Badsey. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms sent to a buyer’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a usual inquiry of the vendor to find out if the property has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred which is not notified by the seller, then a buyer could bring a compensation claim as a result of such an inaccurate response. A purchaser’s conveyancers may also conduct an environmental report. This should disclose whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations will need to be carried out.

I purchased a 4 bedroom Victorian house in Badsey. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and HSBC Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Badsey and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.

We're first time buyers - agreed a price, but the selling agent informed us that the vendor will only go ahead if we use the agent's preferred solicitors as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Badsey

We suspect that the seller is unaware of this requirement. Should the seller want ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Bypass the agents and go straight to the sellers and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to go, with finances arranged © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you are going to appoint your preferred Badsey conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will give the estate agent a referral fee or hit his conveyancing figures demanded by corporate headquarters.