My wife and I are hoping to buy a home in Canton and are in fact using a Canton conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Chelsea Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Canton solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Canton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

How do I investigate if the solicitor handling my conveyancing in Canton is on the mortgage lender’sconveyancing panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for Bank of Ireland thus spending £192.00 in another set of conveyancing bill.

You should take advantage of the search tool on this site. Pick the lender and type ‘Canton’ or your preferred area and you will discover a number of lawyer based in Canton or by proximity to you.

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Canton. Conveyancing is needed. What are my next steps?

Given that you have now exchanged you should appoint a conveyancing solicitor soon as you are facing a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the conveyancing. All auction property will have an associated legal pack. This will likely include most,if not all of the paperwork that your conveyancer will need. In the case of leasehold property the conveyancing pack should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork pertinent to leasehold premises. You should hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor ASAP. You also need to ensure that you have funds organised to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

I am due to exchange contracts on my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in May 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Coventry BS are being a right pain. The Canton solicitor who is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Coventry BS are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Coventry BS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Coventry BS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Coventry BS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

Having digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Canton solicitor - who is on the Principality conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?

Principality will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Principality will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Canton surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Canton. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Here are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Canton

Please supply a car parking plan. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier?

I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Canton before appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor has said that some lenders tend refuse to grant a mortgage on this type of house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Canton. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Canton especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Canton.