Me and my fiance are purchasing a 2 bedroom apartment in Cranham with a mortgage. We have a Cranham solicitor, but the lender says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or retain our Cranham as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer 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 Cranham conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Cranham. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?

Given that you have now legally bound yourself to purchase you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor soon as you now have a tight a fixed date to complete the transaction. Every auction property should have an associated auction set of papers. This will include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. If you have purchased leasehold premises the legal pack may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation relating to leasehold premises. You need to pass this on to the conveyancer working for you at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding in order to complete on the date specified in the contract.

I currently have a mortgage with for my property in Cranham. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform ?

Your original mortgage agreement with will provide that you need their approval in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of ’s mortgage conditions. It may be that will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a conveyancing panel lawyer.

I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in January 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, are being pedantic. The Cranham solicitor who is on the conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

Should my lawyer be making enquiries concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Cranham.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers specialising in conveyancing in Cranham. There are those who buy a house in Cranham, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Lawyers are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous searches that can be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will figure out the risks in Cranham. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard question of the vendor to discover if the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the residence has been flooded in past which is not revealed by the owner, then a buyer could bring a compensation claim resulting from an incorrect response. The purchaser’s solicitors should also carry out an environmental search. This should indicate whether there is any known flood risk. If so, further inquiries will need to be conducted.

I have justbecome aware that Action Conveyancing have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Cranham for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 12 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?

The easiest way to see if the property is in your name, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Cranham conveyancing specialists.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Cranham. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.

Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Cranham

The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Please supply a car parking plan.