Is the fact that my conveyancer in Otley is not identified on my lender's conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the quality of his conveyancing?

It would not be wise to jump to that conclusion. There are plenty of reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) lack of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Should you be concerned you should simply call the Otley conveyancing firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your lender.

We see that you have a post code search directory listing solicitors on the conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for our own conveyancing in Otley?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Otley.

My wife and I are buying a house in Otley. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to put money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our monies?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Otley off the council. I have a mortgage offer with . Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with , you will need to appoint a solicitor on the conveyancing panel.

I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Otley. My mortgage broker suggested a . I paid an advanced payment of £175. A couple of days later, the called me to say that they were not on the 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 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.

I'm buying a new build house in Otley with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative told me not reveal to my conveyancer about this side-deal as it could jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.

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.

Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Otley prior to instructing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some banks may not issue a loan on a flying freehold property.

It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can look into this further via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Otley. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Otley to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.