I am in the process of selling my apartment in Netherley and the estate agent has just e-mailed to warn that the buyers are switching law firm. The reason given is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Netherley ?

Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.

Mortgage companies attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms 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. Your buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.

What happens if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Virgin Money Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Netherley?

The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.

I have been told that property searches are a common reason for hinderance in Netherley house deals. Is that correct?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the top 10 causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Netherley.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Netherley?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Netherley. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Netherley I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Netherley for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?

Should you require a home loan that many years will be an issue. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.