I am acquiring a house without a mortgage in Wenvoe. I have resided for the previous dozen years in Wenvoe. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. Given that I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?

In the absence of a home loan, then the vast majority of the Wenvoe conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your lawyer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but he is duty bound to take that path of advice. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to dispose of the house one day, it may be of interest to your future purchaser what the searches determine. On occasion houses with apparent issues can still reveal unexpected search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Wenvoe will be able to give you some practical guidance in this regard.

We expect to receive a DIP from Barclays this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Barclays recommend any Wenvoe solicitors on the Barclays conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?

You will need to appoint Wenvoe solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Barclays conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Barclays through the process.

After shopping around on the internet I have found a Wenvoe solicitor having made sure that they are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham 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 conveyancing practitioner 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 Wenvoe postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Wenvoe.

My sealed bid on a house in Wenvoe has been agreed to, the owners do however have a tied purchase. The vendors have offered on a flat, but it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other flats booked. I have chosen a high street conveyancing solicitor in Wenvoe. What do I do now? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with Aldermore?

It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Wenvoe conveyancing search fees, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your conveyancer is on the Aldermore approved list. Concerning the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market some purchasers will apply for a home loan with Aldermore and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancing practitioner to press on with searches.

I used Stirling Law several years past for my conveyancing in Wenvoe. I now require my papers however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Wenvoe of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I need to find a conveyancing solicitor for residential conveyancing in Wenvoe. I happened to discover a site which looks to be the perfect offering If it is possible to get all the legals completed via phone that would be preferable. Do I need to be concerned? What are the potential pitfalls?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?

My lawyer in Wenvoe is asking me for personal identification documents stating that this forms part of his requirements as a conveyancer on the bank Solicitor panel. This is news to me - can I refuse?

Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require Wenvoe conveyancing solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Client Care letter that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that the mortgage company also require certain documents to be viewed. If a you refuse to provide ID verification documents, your conveyancer would not be able to accept instructions from you. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with the bank's UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements