I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in Ramsey and the estate agent has just e-mailed to advise that the buyers are changing their solicitor. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only deal with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Ramsey ?

UK lenders 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 considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.

Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal 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. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

IfI was to purchase a freehold housein Ramsey for cash and have no survey and no local authority searches how much should I expect to to save on my conveyancing in Ramsey?

Any savings you would achieve will be limited to the Ramsey conveyancing searches. The property lawyer still be obliged to do everything else - money laundering, correspond with your vendors lawyer, stamp duty return, register the title etc. A slight saving might be made by not needing to register a mortgage but it won't be meaningful.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house are lost. The lawyers who did the conveyancing in Ramsey 10 years ago no longer exist. What are my options?

Assuming you have a registered title the details of your proprietorship will be recorded by HMLR with a Title Number. It is possible to carry out a search at the Land Registry, find your property and secure current copies of the property title for less than a fiver. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for a small fee.

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Ramsey I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Ramsey suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a mortgage that many years may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.

I am looking for a conveyancing practitioner in Ramsey for my home move. Is it possible to check a firm’s complaints history with the profession’s regulator?

Members of the public can review presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions arising from investigations from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may recorded call for training reasons.