My partner and I are planning to acquire a home in Bungay and have instructed a Bungay conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Leeds Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Bungay conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Bungay solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

We were just about to exchange contracts for a ground floor flat in Bungay. We encountered a stumbling block. The loan offer with Barclays expires on 25/2/2026 but the vendors are putting forward a completion date of 27/2/2026. Is it possible to prolong the loan expiry date?

The person best placed to deal with your question is your solicitors who will assess if they should be discussing with the mortgage company, owner’s solicitors, estate agents or conceivably all parties based on the circumstances your house move as of today.

At what point can the exchange of contracts occur in sale conveyancing in Bungay and am I required to be at the solicitors office?

Where you are near to our conveyancing solicitors in Bungay you are invited in to sign the paperwork. However, the law practices we recommend provide countrywide coverage for conveyancing and provide as equally detailed and professional a job for you when communicating with you by post or email. The executing of the contract is not when everything is set in stone. Signing on the dotted line is just a prerequisite for the solicitor to address the formalities when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The procedure is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where an extended "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Bungay)to be in the office at the appropriate time.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one close by in Bungay I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Bungay for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?

Should you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.

I am contemplating choosing a web based solicitor as opposed to a Bungay conveyancing practice. Any advice?

There are advantages of being able to pop in to a local Bungay conveyancing solicitor for example

• signing papers and and when necessary
• getting one on one explanations of issues that you need help with
• the ability to raise concerns if things go pear-shaped

When analysing quotes, look out for hidden extras. Most decent Bungay high street solicitors give an all-inclusive figure. Often online companies appear to offer cheap prices, yet have burried 'extras' in the fine print.