I am progressing with the sale of my flat in Belbroughton and the EA has just text me to advise that the purchasers are swapping conveyancer. The excuse is that the lender will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading lender only engage with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Belbroughton ?

Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the last few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms 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. The purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.

I purchased a 4 bedroom Edwardian property in Belbroughton. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Godiva Mortgages Ltd. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking Godiva Mortgages Ltd to clarify?

You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Belbroughton and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing practitioner who completed the work.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Belbroughton with a loan from Birmingham Midshires. The developers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about the extras as it may affect my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.

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.

I have been advised by a number of selling agents in Belbroughton to select a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial upside for Estate Agents to recommend your site rather than another?

We refuse to make any financial incentive for directing people to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

I require the services of a lender panel solicitor in Belbroughton. Could you help me?

Unfortunately it’s not apparent why you need a Belbroughton panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to the lender to find out which solicitors in Belbroughton are on their panel . If you do find such a firm in Belbroughton not listed please direct them to our site to list. After all the cost is only one £1 a month