My fiance and I are intent on purchasing residence in Harehills. My Solicitor is not listed on the mortgage company solicitor panel. Am I still permitted to appoint my Harehills conveyancing solicitor even though they are not on the lender approved list?

You have a number of choices open to you here

• Proceed with your preferred Harehills conveyancer but your mortgage company will need to use a conveyancing practitioner on their approved panel. This will result in additional fees together with potential interruption.
• Appoint a new conveyancing practitioner to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
• Convince your solicitor to do everything within their powers to get accepted on the lender’s conveyancing panel

Is there a list of Leeds Building Society panel solicitors in Harehills on the Building Society Association’s Website?

Unfortunately not yet. There is no such directory service on the CML or Building Society Association websites. Very few banks make their panel listings available over the internet. Where you are looking for a Harehills conveyancer on the Leeds Building Society please use our facility.

I am buying a property in Harehills. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. UBS have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

Given that your lender is UBS your lawyer must check the formal instructions contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for UBS. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to UBS where a lease does not satisfy these provisions. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not limited to Harehills.

I have finally had an offer on a maisonette in Harehills agreed to, the owners do however have a dependent purchase. The owners have offered on a property, however it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have chosen a high street conveyancing solicitor in Harehills. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage application with HSBC started?

It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is approx £1k, then survey, Harehills conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you should ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the HSBC approved list. As to the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market the majority of buyers will apply for a home loan with HSBC and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their solicitor to press on with the conveyancing in Harehills.

I have been told that property searches are a common cause of stalling in Harehills house deals. Is that correct?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Harehills.

I am buying my first flat in Harehills with a mortgage from Aldermore. The developers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative suggested that I not inform my lawyer about this extras as it may impact 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.

To what extent are Harehills conveyancing solicitors duty bound by the Law Society to issue clear conveyancing figures?

Inbuilt into the Solicitors Code of Conduct are set rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their charges to clients.The Law Society have practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not intended as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, however, represent the Law Society’s view of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in Harehills or beyond.