Me and my partner are hoping to purchase a 3 bedroom flat in Carisbrooke with a mortgage. We have a Carisbrooke conveyancer, however the lender advise she’s not on their "panel". It appears that we have no option but to use one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or continue with our Carisbrooke conveyancing practitioner and pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?

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 Carisbrooke conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

Completed the sale of my flat in Carisbrooke last March but our buyer keeps telephoning me to say her conveyancer needs to hear from mysolicitor. What should have happened following completion?

After completion of your house sale your lawyer is obliged to forward the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Depending on the transaction, your lawyer must also send confirmation that the mortgage has been redeemed to the buyers lawyers. There are no post completion procedures just for conveyancing in Carisbrooke.

We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Carisbrooke for our house move. Our broker has since advised us that our mortgage company Nationwide Building Society won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?

A mortgage company may insist on a panel conveyancer act for it. Borrowers are liable to meet the charges for this. Please make use of our database to find a solicitor to carry conveyancing in Carisbrooke on the Nationwide Building Society conveyancing panel.

Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with HSBC. Carisbrooke conveyancing lawyers were instructed. How long does it take for HSBC to forward the offer to the property lawyer?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have HSBC completed the survey? Have you informed HSBC as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the HSBC conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Carisbrooke. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £175. Shortly after, the conveyancer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Principality conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Principality panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

My offer on a detached house in Carisbrooke has been accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have placed an offer on somewhere, however it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other flats booked. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Carisbrooke. What do I do now? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with Barclays?

It is normal to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then valuation, Carisbrooke conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is check that your property lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Concerning the subsequent phase this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, motivation for the property and on the state of the market. During a rising market some home buyers would apply for a home loan with Barclays and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancer to proceed with the conveyancing in Carisbrooke.

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Carisbrooke. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Carisbrooke - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Carisbrooke Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

Is there a share of the freehold? The majority of Carisbrooke leasehold flats will have a service charge for the upkeep of the building set on behalf of the landlord. Should you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this amount, usually periodically throughout the year. This can be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say around £50-£100 but you should to check it because on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. Make sure you find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example it is fairly common in Carisbrooke leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Carisbrooke. If you like the apartmentin Carisbrooke yet your dog can’t make the move with you then you will be presented with a hard choice.