My Conveyancer in Haydock is not listed on the Accord Mortgages Ltd Approved Panel. Can I still use my prefered solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the Accord Mortgages Ltd approved list?

Your options are as follows:

1. Complete the purchase with your existing Haydock lawyers but Accord Mortgages Ltd will need to retain a lawyer on their list of acceptable firms. This will result in additional overall conveyancing charges and cause frustration.
2. Get a new lawyer to to deal with the purchase, remembering to check they are on the Accord Mortgages Ltd panel

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unseasoned as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Haydock. Do I receive the keys to the property on the completion date from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Haydock?

On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Haydock. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you will be able to receive the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this happens early afternoon.

I have paid off my mortgage with Coventry BS. I assume I don't need a Haydock conveyancer on the Coventry BS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Coventry BS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Coventry BS mortgage from the register. Coventry BS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Coventry BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Coventry BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in September 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, UBS are being problematic. The Haydock solicitor who is on the UBS conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but UBS are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do UBS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that UBS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why UBS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

I am purchasing a new build house in Haydock benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep told me not to tell my conveyancer about this extras as it would impact my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

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.

Hoping to buy a property located in Haydock and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Haydock. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Haydock area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Haydock. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found

My step-son is about to join the property ladder, he had his mortgage in principle. When the offer was accepted on flat we rang the building society to progress the mortgage application. I was shocked to hear that mortgage lenders do not accept all conveyancing practitioner, they have to be on a list, is this legal?

Mortgage Companies tend to imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their approved list of lawyers. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Haydock property lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Presumably not.