My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a house in Grange Park and have instructed a Grange Park conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. National Westminster Bank have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Grange Park solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. 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 solicitor should contact your bank 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Grange Park solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

Why do I have to pay up front for conveyancing in Grange Park?

If you are buying a property in Grange Park your solicitor will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is payable against the total price then this should be required shortly in advance of exchange of contracts. The final balance that is due should be transferred a couple of days prior to the day of completion.

It has been 3 months following my purchase conveyancing in Grange Park took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I'm buying my first flat in Grange Park benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent advised me not inform my solicitor about the extras as it would affect my loan with the bank. 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.

In sourcing the web for the phrase cheap conveyancing in Grange Park it reveals numerous property lawyersin the area. How do I determine which is the right property lawyer for me?

The ideal method of seeking the right conveyancer is through a personal referral, so ask friends and family who have acquired a property in Grange Park or a local estate agent or financial adviser. Costs for conveyancing in Grange Park differ, so it's advisable to request at least four fee estimates from different solicitors. Be sure to secure confirmation that the fees are fixed.