It has come to my attention via my mortgage broker that my Ferndown property lawyer is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. What can I do to be certain that this is indeed the case?

You need to call your Ferndown lawyer directly. You lawyer should inform you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the conveyancing panel for your bank.

My conveyancer has discovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are buying in Ferndown. The seller’s lawyers have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our property lawyer has advised that he must check that the lender is content with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?

Even though you have a mortgage offer from the lender does not mean to say that the property will meet their requirements for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. You and the lender are the client. The appropriate lender requirements have to be complied with.

We are selling our flat in Ferndown. Will the conveyancer need to be required to be on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently in recent years.

We had selected conveyancers based in Ferndown on the UBS solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional charge for handling the UBS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by UBS?

As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitor can levy a fee for this. The charge is not set by UBS but by your Ferndown conveyancer. Numerous firms on the UBS panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of practices incorporate it on their overall fee.

I am buying a property in Ferndown. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender TSB be concerned?

As you are obtaining a mortgage with TSB your lawyer must check the formal requirements contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for TSB. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to TSB where a lease does not satisfy these specifications. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Ferndown.

I have instructed a Ferndown lawyer having checked that they are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your property lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Ferndown postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Ferndown.

I'm buying my first flat in Ferndown benefiting from help to buy. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not inform my conveyancer about this extras as it may put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.