My husband and I decided to purchase a newly converted apartment in Childwall with a residential mortgage from Bank of Scotland.We have a Childwall conveyancing solicitor but Bank of Scotland advised that her practice is not on their approved list of firms. We have to appoint a Bank of Scotland panel solicitor or retain our preferred solicitor and fork out for a Bank of Scotland panel lawyer to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. The loan offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers must be on the Bank of Scotland solicitor panel. in the past, most mortgage companies had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find 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. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Bank of Scotland

My solicitor has informed me that flying freehold insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Childwall?

The appropriate level of flying freehold indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Yorkshire Building Society and Virgin Money. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.

I am the sole recipient of my late mum's will and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Childwall. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in July. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in July. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The CML handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. many mortgage companies would take a practical view as this clause is chiefly there to pick up on subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of property.

My husband and I have organised a further advance on our mortgage from Nationwide as we want to conduct improvements to our property in Childwall. Do we need to appoint a nearby Childwall solicitor on the Nationwide conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

Nationwide don't usually appoint firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.

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

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Childwall. 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…’

We are one month into a freehold purchase having been directed to a firm by the high street agent to carry out the conveyancing in Childwall. We are not happy. Can you help me find new lawyers?

They would need to be very poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has the mortgage offer been sent? In the event that it has you will need to inform them of the new contact details and get the mortgage documents are re-issued. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the banks panel to avoid supplemental fees and frustration. That should be your starting point. The find a solicitor tool should assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your home move in Childwall

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Childwall. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Childwall - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

I inherited a split level flat in Childwall, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in Childwall with over 90 years remaining are worth £197,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2081

With just 56 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £29,500 and £34,000 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.