It has come to my attention via my estate agent that my Mitcham solicitor is not on the bank Solicitor panel. What can I do to check?

The best course of action for you to take is to call your Mitcham lawyer directly. You lawyer should inform you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Mitcham conveyancing practice that is on the conveyancing panel for your lender.

Can you help - my lawyer says that chancel insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Mitcham conveyancing?

The appropriate level of chancel indemnity insurance depends on who your lender is. It would differ for example between Lloyds TSB Bank and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.

I happen to be the only beneficiary of my late father’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Mitcham. The Mitcham property was put into my name in January. I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership may be considered the same way as if I'd bought the property in January. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be impacted by that. How sensible a view lenders take of it, depend on the lender as this provision is principally there to identify subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.

We were going to get a DIP from Nottingham this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Nottingham recommend any Mitcham solicitors on the Nottingham conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?

You will need to appoint Mitcham solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Nottingham through the process.

I am close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our property in Mitcham and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers instructed a nationwide conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Mitcham. We have lived in Mitcham for six years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to get in touch with our local Authority to obtain clarification that there is no issue.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)

My husband and I are FTB’s - had an offer accepted, yet the selling agent advised that the owners will only issue a contract if we instruct their preferred solicitors as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a high street solicitor accustomed to conveyancing in Mitcham

We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. If they desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious purchaser is going to damage their objectives. Contact the sellers directly and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you will continue to use your preferred Mitcham conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will give their negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing thresholds demanded by senior management.

We have been informed by numerous friends that it may take up to two months for Mitcham conveyancing to complete.This was 3 ago. The paperwork was only forwarded from the vendors solicitor last week so now does it countdown?

No official countdown exists for conveyancing in Mitcham, or any location. You simply have to ensure that your finances are in order and in due course the rest will come to you eventually.