Is the fact that my solicitor in Crook is not identified on my bank's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the quality of his work?

It would be unwise to jump to that conclusion. There are plenty of reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator revealed 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The most common reasons for removal are: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. If you are concerned you should contact the Crook conveyancing firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your lender.

My conveyancer has discovered a a problem with the lease for the apartment we are purchasing in Crook. The other side have suggested title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our conveyancing practitioner has advised that he must check that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the lender?

The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your solicitor will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

We had selected solicitors based in Crook on the Principality solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a further sum for dealing with the Principality mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Principality?

Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner may charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Principality but by your Crook conveyancer. Numerous firms on the Principality panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many practices include it on their overall fee.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Crook. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £200. A few days later, the lawyer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Yorkshire BS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

After shopping around on the internet I have found a Crook conveyancer having checked that they are on the RBS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Crook surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I am purchasing a new build house in Crook with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not reveal to my conveyancer about this extras as it may adversely affect my mortgage with Coventry Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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

Can you please explain what my options are where my Crook conveyancing searches reveals detrimental entries?

Ordinarily, most problems arising from Crook conveyancing search responses can be dealt with prior to completion or title insurance can be put on cover. You should note that even though you may be buying the premises and may be willing to live with the search results, your lender may not, and ultimately the decision rests with them.