I am nearing exchange of contracts for my house in Carmarthen and the EA has just text me to advise that the purchasers are changing their conveyancer. The reason given is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a big named lender only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Carmarthen ?

UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, 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 many years.

Banks point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say 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. Plenty of firms do not even realise 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 unlikely to have any impact on this.

I require conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (6 years built) in Carmarthen. The vast majority the properties are already sold. Do I need carry out the local searches as part of conveyancing in Carmarthen?

A big part of the Carmarthen legal transfer of property is the conveyancing searches. There are a large number of search providers delivering Carmarthen conveyancing searches, as well straight from the local authority. These are known collectively as personal search companies due to them carrying out, personal searches. Nevertheless, all Local Authority Search conveyancing products have one thing in common - they must obtain their information from the local authoritative source.

It is is a decade since I purchased my house in Carmarthen. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down my title deeds. Is this a major issue?

Don’t worry too much. First the deeds may be retained by your mortgage company or they could be archived with the solicitor who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Carmarthen involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Carmarthen?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Carmarthen. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I am just shy of a 10% deposit on my house purchase in Carmarthen , but I still want to go ahead. What can I do?

One option is to try and agree a lesser deposit. Many property owners will agree to a smaller deposit or even no deposit for a first time buyer or 100% mortgage. Be aware though that if you fail to complete you will still need to hand over a minimum of 10% of the purchase price regardless of how much deposit was agreed.

You can also agree a simultaneous exchange and completion as no deposit is required for this however neither party will be tied in until completion actually takes place and it can be risky if sellers change their mind at the last moment