My fiance and I are planning to buy a flat in Cottenham and are in fact using a Cottenham conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barclays have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Cottenham lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Cottenham lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Is it necessary during the course of the conveyancing process to have a meeting at the offices of the solicitor to sign the mortgage deed? If so, I will appoint a lawyer who conducts conveyancing in Cottenham so that I can attend their offices if required.

These days conveyancing panel lawyers for lenders undertake all of the work via the post, e-mail or over phone calls. This means that they can undertake the legal work for your home move regardless of where you live in England or Wales. That being said you should check if you can still book an appointment to visit conveyancing lawyer if needed.

Me and my brother own a 4 bedroom Victorian house in Cottenham. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Clydesdale. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. 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 Cottenham 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 question the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.

I'm converting the mortgage on my existing home to a buy to let loan with The Mortgage Works and I will use the rest of the raised equity as a down payment on another property. The area we are talking about is Cottenham. Will your conveyancers be able to act for both sets of mortgage companies and tie in the two deals?

Do use our comparison tool on this site to check that the solicitors are approved by both mortgage companies. Assuming that they are your solicitor will be able to connect the two transactions but you should talk with you conveyancer and make clear your desired outcome and needs.

There are numerous properties in Cottenham on unadopted roads. We are purchasing one such property. Are there any benefits to purchasing a house on a private road?

Cottenham conveyancing practices are well versed in dealing homeson private. Your conveyancer should review the Land Registry data to identify any rights or liabilities. In many cases there is a management company (wholly owned by residents) that owners pay into for the upkeep of the road. Where there is one, the road will likely be maintained and appear nicer than council owned.