I am in the process of selling my house in Linton and the estate agent has just telephoned to say that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only work with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a major mortgage company only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Linton ?

Lenders have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for over 25 years.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.

We are buying a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Linton who is on the TSB approved panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for TSB . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Linton.

I just acquired a property at auction in Linton. Conveyancing is needed. What is next?

Now that you have exchanged you must instruct a conveyancing lawyer quickly as you are faced with a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the conveyancing. Every auction property will have a bespoke auction pack. This should include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. In the case of leasehold property the auction papers may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork specific to a leasehold property. You must pass this on to the solicitor working for you as soon as possible. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding in order to complete on the on the contractual date .

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as a 1st time purchaser of a two bedroom flat in Linton. Do I pick up the keys to the house on the completion date from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in Linton?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the completion advance to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to collect the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this happens early afternoon.

I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Linton. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £175. A couple of days later, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Nationwide 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 Nationwide 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.

Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Linton prior to appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not issue a loan on such a property.

It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can investigate further with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Linton. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Linton to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.

We're first time buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the property agent told us that the seller will only go ahead if we instruct their preferred lawyers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Linton

It is unlikely the owners are behind this. If they want ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Contact the owners directly and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you intend to appoint your own,trusted Linton conveyancing solicitors - rather thanthe ones that will give their estate agent a referral fee or meet his conveyancing thresholds set by HQ.