We are selling our house in South Yorkshire. Does my conveyancer have to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Aldermore conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently currently.

I am purchasing a property in South Yorkshire. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Principality have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As your lender is Principality your lawyer must check the formal requirements set out in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Principality. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Principality where a lease does not satisfy these requirements. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not restricted to South Yorkshire.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Barclays. I assume I don't need a South Yorkshire property lawyer on the Barclays panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Barclays mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Barclays mortgage from the register. Barclays, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Barclays has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Barclays has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in July 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Co-operative are being pedantic. The South Yorkshire solicitor who is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Co-operative are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Co-operative have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Co-operative have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Co-operative may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. South Yorkshire is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in South Yorkshire are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in South Yorkshire you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in South Yorkshire may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

Should I be concerned about brokers that I am dealing with are suggesting a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a local South Yorkshire conveyancing firm?

As with many service providers, often input from connections can be worth their weight in gold. But there are numerous players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, financial adviser and lenders may recommend conveyancers to retain. Sometimes these conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but sometimes there is an underlying financial incentive behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to choose your own lawyer. Don't forget that the majority of banks have an approved list of solicitors you must use for the mortgage aspect of your home move.

We're novice buyers - had an offer accepted, but the selling agent told us that the vendor will only proceed if we appoint their preferred lawyers as they need a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a high street conveyancer who is accustomed to conveyancing in South Yorkshire

We suspect that the owner is not behind this ultimatum. Should the vendor want ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Try to communicate with the vendors directly and explain that (a)you are genuine buyers (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you are going to use your preferred South Yorkshire conveyancing firm - not the ones that will earn the estate agent a kickback or achieve conveyancing figures demanded by corporate headquarters.