I am one month into the sale of my home in Harlow and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are changing their conveyancer. The reason given is that the bank will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only engage with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Harlow ?

UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.

Mortgage companies blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened 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 purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

How up to date is your search tool for Harlow conveyancing solicitors on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel? Do Bank of Ireland send you an updated list?

Harlow conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Bank of Ireland directly.

I have todayfound out that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Harlow for a purchase of a freehold house 10 months ago. How can I establish that my home is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest way to see if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Harlow conveyancing specialists.

I opted to have a survey completed on a house in Harlow in advance of retaining solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to grant a loan on this type of premises.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Harlow. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

My father has recommend that I instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Harlow. Do I take his recommendation?

There are no two ways about it the best way to find a conveyancing solicitor is to have guidance from friends or family who have experience in using the solicitor you're considering.