I plan on purchasing a leasehold flat in Gants Hill. My property lawyer is not listed on the lender conveyancing list. Can I still continue with my Gants Hill conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the bank approved list?

You have a couple of alternatives available to you here

• Proceed with your chosen Gants Hill solicitor but your mortgage company will undoubtedly appoint a conveyancing practitioner on their approved list. The net result is additional cost together with probable interruption.
• Get a new conveyancer to conduct the conveyancing, ensuring that they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
• Convince your lawyer to pull out all the stops to get listed on the bank’s panel of solicitors

Can you help? My Gants Hill lawyer is advising me that she is duty bound toorder Gants Hill conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the Virgin Moneyapproved lawyer panel. Is my solicitor right?

You have limited options available to you. As you are taking a home loan with a mortgage company your solicitor has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancing practitioner would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Gants Hill conveyancing searches.

I currently have a mortgage with Barclays for my property in Gants Hill. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Barclays?

You must advise Barclays in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Barclays’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies 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 Barclays directly. You need not do this via a Barclays conveyancing panel firm.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Gants Hill. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.

I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Kent Reliance. Is it usual for Kent Reliance to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Gants Hill is approved on their conveyancing panel? Kent Reliance have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Kent Reliance to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I used Action Conveyancing a few years past for my conveyancing in Gants Hill. I now require my papers but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Gants Hill of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one near me in Gants Hill I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Gants Hill suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.