I am 4 weeks into the sale of my apartment in Penkridge and the estate agent has just telephoned to say that the buyers are swapping conveyancer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only work with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Penkridge ?

Banks have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.

Banks point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been tightened 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 claims that 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. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

Do the Building Society Association intend to launch a search tool with a view to list solicitors on the Loughborough BS conveyancing panel for instance in Penkridge?

We are not aware of any plans on the part of the BSA to develop such a register.

We are purchasing a property in Penkridge. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? On completion day we will need to deposit our life savings into their account. What protection do 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 am purchasing a property in Penkridge. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Santander have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As you are obtaining a mortgage with Santander your lawyer must check the conveyancing requirements set out in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Santander. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook includes minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Santander where a lease does not satisfy these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not isolated to Penkridge.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Penkridge. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £200. A few days later, the conveyancer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland 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 require expedited conveyancing in Penkridge as I am under a deadline to exchange contracts in less than 3 weeks. A home loan is not required. Is it possible to escape the need for conveyancing searches to save money and time?

If.Given you are not obtaining a home loan you have the choice not to do searches although no law firm would recommend that you don't. With lots of history conveyancing in Penkridge the following are instances of what can arise and therefore affect market value: Enforcement Notices, Outstanding Charges, Outstanding Grants, Railway Schemes,...

Given that I will soon part with over three hundred thousand on a property in Penkridge I wish to have a conversation with the lawyer about myhouse move prior to giving the go ahead to the firm. Can this be arranged?

This is something that we recommend - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the conveyancer due to be doing your conveyancing in Penkridge.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique person, not a case reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for your conveyancing in Penkridge should be the figure that you are charged.