I am progressing with the sale of my house in Hilsea and the estate agent has just called to warn that the buyers are changing their law firm. The excuse is that the bank will only work with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a leading mortgage company only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Hilsea ?

Banks have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for over 25 years.

Lenders blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed 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 are unaware that 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 sway in the decision.

As someone clueless as to conveyancing in Hilsea what is the number one tip you can give me concerning the legal transfer of property in Hilsea

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Hilsea or throughout Hampshire is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of opportunity for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the transaction. For instance, the seller, property agent and on occasion a mortgage company. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Hilsea should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the legal process whose responsibility is to protect your legal interests and to protect you.

There is a distinct emergence of a "blame" culture- someone must be blamed for the process being so protracted. We recommend that you must always trust your conveyancer above the other players when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

I had intended to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Hilsea for our house move. Our broker has since advised us that our mortgage lenders Britannia won't deal with them. Surely this is unfair competition?

A lender may direct that an approved solicitor act for it. Borrowers are expected to bear the charges for this. Do use our directory service to locate a solicitor to conduct conveyancing in Hilsea on the Britannia approved list of solicitors.

Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Hilsea. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How do I make a complaint?

Most lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team 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 recently had an offer accepted on a house in Hilsea. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £225. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Yorkshire BS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Co-operative have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a apartment in Hilsea has been accepted, what are the next steps?

Your property agent will need to be advised as to your conveyancing practitioner's details (ensure that the solicitors are on the lender’s approved list). Call up Co-operative or the financial adviser and finalise any relevant documentation. Co-operative will appoint a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or owners to schedule a time for the valuation to occur. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about a fortnight to get a mortgage offer. Co-operative will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Hilsea.

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Hilsea where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Hilsea conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

I bought a 1st floor flat in Hilsea, conveyancing was carried out 4 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Hilsea with an extended lease are worth £185,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2086

With only 61 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £18,100 and £20,800 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.