I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in Ellesmere and the EA has just e-mailed to advise that the purchasers are swapping conveyancer. The excuse is that the bank will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major lender only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Ellesmere ?

Banks have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.

Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened 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 being contacted daily by practices 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. The buyers are not going to have any impact on this.

A friend recommended that where I am purchasing in Ellesmere 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 occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Ellesmere conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Ellesmere around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Ellesmere Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Ellesmere.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Ellesmere with a mortgage from Halifax. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my solicitor about the deal as it could affect my mortgage with Halifax. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

We're FTB’s - agreed a price, but the estate agent informed us that the vendor will only move forward if we appoint their chosen conveyancers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Ellesmere

It is improbable the vendors are driving this. Should the vendor require ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine buyer is counter productive. Avoid the agents and go straight to the sellers and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to go, with finances in place © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you will continue to use your own,trusted Ellesmere conveyancing solicitors - rather thanthe ones that will give their negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or hit his conveyancing thresholds pre-set by corporate headquarters.

Searching for a conveyancing solicitor in Ellesmere. I did have one sorted but he's not on the approved list of Aldermore. It seems that these days most mortgage companies only allow property lawyers on their panel. Very annoying limiting the choice for the paying public. Can you recommend a good Ellesmere lawyer that will help us as well as represent Aldermore?

LenderPanel.com is restricted to being a directory service for conveyancers who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Aldermore in certain areas for example Ellesmere . Our intention is not to recommend any particular lawyer.