Me and my partner are planning to acquire a 1 bedroom flat in Burwell with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Burwell lawyer, but the bank advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel firms or continue with our Burwell as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This feels very unfair; can we not demand that the lender use our Burwell ?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’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 Burwell conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

Can conveyancing in Burwell to be completed in less than two weeks?

In the event that the seller is applying a tight deadline for your conveyancing we would recommend that your lawyer is familiar with the location as they will make use of local connections and intelligence. It is possible that they would have transacted previousproperties in the same neighbourhood. You would be best advised to use a Burwell conveyancing lawyer. In addition, ensure that the conveyancing firm is on the member panel. It is believed that just under twenty per cent of Burwell conveyancing transactions are delayed or jeopardised after discovering a purchaser’s solicitor was not on their banks list of approved solicitors. In many cases this discovery resulted in the conveyancing being frustrated by an average of three weeks. It is claimed that this issue impacts in the region of 100,000 home sales annually. Most Burwell conveyancing firms can not represent certain banks so do check as early as possible.

Do I have to pop into the offices of the solicitor to sign the mortgage deed? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Burwell so that I can pop in to their offices if required.

These days conveyancing panel lawyers for banks carry out the vast majority of work through Royal Mail, internet or over phone calls. This enables them to undertake the legal work for your home move regardless of where you live in England or Wales. However you can see if you can still book an appointment to visit conveyancing lawyer if needed.

Do I need to take out insurance to protect me from financial exposure to chancel repairs when acquiring a residence in Burwell?

Unless a previous purchase of the property took place post 12 October 2013 you could expect lawyers handling conveyancing in Burwell to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.

I'm buying a new build house in Burwell with a loan from . The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The sale representative advised me not to tell my lawyer about this side-deal as it may impact my mortgage with . Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.