I am one month into the sale of my house in Brackla and the estate agent has just telephoned to advise that the buyers are switching property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only deal with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Brackla ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.

Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says 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. Your purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.

We are intent on selling our home in Brackla and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. A high street Brackla conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using a national conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Brackla. Having lived in Brackla for six years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain clarification need.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. Are they able to advise? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)

I used Action Conveyancing several years ago for my conveyancing in Brackla. Now, I need my documents but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Brackla of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in Brackla I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Brackla suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you need a home loan that many years will be problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

I am looking into buying my first house which is in Brackla and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Brackla. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Brackla area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Brackla. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found