I have just started taking steps with a view to swapping over from my current residential mortgage to a Buy to Let Virgin Money mortgage. The bank has said that I need a conveyancer for this. I had a chat my previous Worcestershire conveyancing solicitor who acted on my behalf when I first bought the house. The fee estimate sent of £450 plus VAT has taken me by surprise as its a refinance than a sale or purchase.

The charges seem a bit high. Where you are prepared to invest time contrasting quotes you may be able to reduce the fees marginally by perhaps £100 plus VAT. On the other hand, if you were happy with the conveyancing the firm gave you couldlive to rue opting for an an unknown lawyer. If is important to check the solicitor can act for Virgin Money. Do make use of our search tool to select a Worcestershire conveyancing firm on the Virgin Money member panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Worcestershire.

We see that you have a search directory identifying solicitors on the UBS conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a commission if I retain them for our own conveyancing in Worcestershire?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the UBS conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Worcestershire.

I'm the sole recipient of my late mum's estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Worcestershire. The Worcestershire property was put into my name in July. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership may be regarded the same way as if I'd bought the house in July. Do I have to wait 6 months to sell?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the bank as this provision chiefly exists to capture subsales or the flipping of properties.

My fiancee and I are spending time viewing flats in Worcestershire and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it advisable to have a conveyancer on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a mortgage with Principality.

It would be advisable to commence your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer 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 getting a mortgage with Principality, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Principality conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

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

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

My colleague advised me that if I am purchasing in Worcestershire I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Worcestershire conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Worcestershire around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Worcestershire Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Worcestershire.

I am buying my first flat in Worcestershire with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not reveal to my lawyer about this side-deal as it could affect my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.

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