My partner and I have organised a further advance on our mortgage from Kent Reliance as we want to carry out a loft conversion to our house in The Hyde. Do we need to choose a bricks and mortar The Hyde solicitor on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

Kent Reliance would not normally require a member of their conveyancing panel to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel.

I'm spending time looking at houses in The Hyde and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it best to have my lawyer on ‘stand by’? I will be getting a mortgage with HSBC.

It would be prudent to instigate your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the EA. Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with HSBC, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

I've read lots of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local The Hyde solicitor - who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your The Hyde postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in The Hyde.

I have recentlyfound out that Stirling Law have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in The Hyde for a purchase of a leasehold flat 9 months ago. How can I check that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?

The easiest way to see if the premises is registered to you, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of The Hyde conveyancing specialists.

Taking into account that I am about to part with over three hundred thousand on a terraced house in The Hyde I wish to have a conversation with the conveyancer concerning theconveyancing ahead of instructing the firm. Can this be arranged?

Absolutely - we would be pleased to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you speaking to the lawyer due to be doing your property ownership legalities in The Hyde.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important person, not a matter number. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for your conveyancing in The Hyde should be the amount on the final invoice that you are charged.

Am I best advised to instruct a The Hyde conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am purchasing? We have a good friend who can deal with the conveyancing but her office is a couple of hundredkilometers drive away.

The primary upside of using a local The Hyde conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to sign documents, hand in your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and in the main were impressed that must surpass using an unknown The Hyde conveyancing solicitor just because they are local.

We have been told by many estate agents that it can take six to eight weeks for The Hyde conveyancing to complete.This was a month ago. The paperwork was only forwarded to my solicitor a few days ago so does the time start running now?

Don't bank on counting down any 6-8 week suggested period. Providing assurances as to precisely how long The Hyde conveyancing will take is an impossible task. Every conveyance has it’s specific set of issues. Accordingly your property lawyer should be unwilling to give representations as to how long it will take to conclude your conveyancing in The Hyde.