I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in Perry Barr and the estate agent has just text me to say that the purchasers are switching law firm. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a major lender only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Perry Barr ?

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 Nationwide, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.

Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices 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 impact on this.

The owners have rather brash vendors who has suggested a lock out contract with a non-refundable deposit two thousand pounds. Are such agreements sensible?

This kind of agreement isn't frequently used in Perry Barr, conveyancers will often try and steer clients away from them as they detract from the primary objective, namely conveyancing and if you end up having your deposit forfeited then the lawyer at best left with an upset client and at worst a litigious one. Furthermore, there is no assurance that just because the proprietor has entered into a lock out contract they will complete the sale with you. They may be in contravention of the agreement if they are offered a large enough incentive to do so because a wronged party with the benefit of a exclusivitycontract will still be obliged show losses as a consequence of the breach and this may not compare to the extra amount that your seller may secure by reneging on the agreement, however morally condemnable the behaviour is.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Perry Barr with a loan from Nottingham Building Society. The developers would not move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative told me not disclose to my conveyancer about this deal as it would jeopardize my loan with Nottingham Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.

We're novice buyers - agreed a price, yet the agent has warned us that the owners will only issue a contract if we use their preferred conveyancers as they are insisting on a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Perry Barr

It is highly unlikely the vendors are driving this. Should the seller require ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a genuine purchaser is counter productive. Avoid the agents and go straight to the owners and explain that (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you will continue to instruct your preferred Perry Barr conveyancing firm - as opposed tothe ones that will provide the estate agent a kickback or achieve conveyancing figures pre-set by HQ.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Perry Barr. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Perry Barr should include some of the following:

Details of the parties to the lease, e.g. these could be the (you), head lessor, freeholder The physical ownership of the premises. This will be the apartment itself but may include a roof area or cellar if appropriate. The landlord’s rights to access the flat. You should be made aware that your landlord has rights of access as well as be informed how much notice must be provided. You would want to be sent a copy of the lease Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Perry Barr, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Perry Barr with over 90 years remaining are worth £227,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2097

You have 72 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.