My wife and I are hoping to purchase a 1 bedroom flat in Blackfriars with a mortgage. We have a Blackfriars solicitor, but the lender says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel solicitors or retain our Blackfriars and pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. We consider that this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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. Another option that might be available is for your Blackfriars conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Blackfriars. I I am struggling to find out if they are on the approved list of lawyers. Can you help?

You should call your lawyer and enquire if they are on the lender panel. Alternatively you should call who may be able to assist.

A colleague recommended that where I am purchasing in Blackfriars I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Blackfriars conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Blackfriars around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Blackfriars Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Blackfriars.

Me and my brother own a semi-detached Victorian property in Blackfriars. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. 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 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 Blackfriars and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Blackfriars with a mortgage from . The builders would not move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The property agent suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about this extras as it could jeopardize my loan with the lender. 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.