My fiance and I are planning to acquire a flat in Norwich and are in fact using a Norwich conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Skipton Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Norwich conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?

Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Norwich lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

Can I use your services to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Norwich even if I’m not buying or selling a house, for instance where I intend to buy a shop in Norwich with a loan from Godiva Mortgages Ltd?

The service is primarily there to locate residential conveyancing solicitors in Norwich but we have recorded at the bottom of this page a selection of Norwich commercial conveyancing firms. You should make contact with the company directly to see if they are also authorised to represent Godiva Mortgages Ltd

I'm buying a new build house in Norwich benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about this deal as it would jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. 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.

How straightforward is it to use the search tool to get a fee calculation from a conveyancing lawyer in Norwich on the panel for my bank?

Step one is to select a lender such as Barclays , Bank of Scotland or Clydesdale then specify your location e.g. Norwich. Conveyancing firms in Norwich and nationally will then be listed.

I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Norwich. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the service charge as normal given that all ground rent and maintenance invoices should be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I inherited a garden flat in Norwich, conveyancing was carried out in 2002. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding properties in Norwich with an extended lease are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2094

With 69 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.