Me and my fiance are purchasing a 2 bedroom apartment in Colney Hatch with a mortgage. We have a Colney Hatch lawyer, but the lender advise he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little option but to instruct one of the bank panel solicitors or keep our Colney Hatch property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to demand that the mortgage company use our Colney Hatch solicitor ?

Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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 Colney Hatch conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

Can the conveyancing solicitors that you recommend perform attended exchange conveyancing in Colney Hatch?

We do have a number of conveyancing specialists who can conduct personalised exchanges. You should call us to secure a costs illustration and details as to availability.

My colleague recommended that where I am purchasing in Colney Hatch I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Colney Hatch conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Colney Hatch around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Colney Hatch Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Colney Hatch.

I have a terraced Victorian property in Colney Hatch. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Accord Mortgages Ltd. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Colney Hatch and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.

My offer on house in Colney Hatch was accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have offered on a flat, however it’s not been accepted yet, and has viewings of other apartments in the pipeline. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Colney Hatch. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with UBS going with UBS?

It is standard to have concerns where there is an associated chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Colney Hatch conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you must check that your property lawyer is on the UBS conveyancing panel. As to the subsequent stages this very much depends on the uniqueness of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a hot market many home buyers would apply for a home loan with UBS and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their conveyancing practitioner to proceed with searches.