I am selling my apartment in Llanrumney and the estate agent has just telephoned to advise that the buyers are changing their law firm. The excuse is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading mortgage company only deal with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Llanrumney ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.

Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms 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 unlikely to have any impact on this.

The property market in Llanrumney is hotting up. What can I do to expedite the legal process?

First, If you are under a tight deadline to sign contracts it is advisable to make sure that your solicitor is familiar with the location as they will have local contacts and intelligence. It is possible that they could have handled previousproperties in the same street. Therefore consider using a Llanrumney conveyancing lawyer. In addition, ensure that the lawyer is on the lender panel. It is claimed that 18% of Llanrumney conveyancing transactions are held up or jeopardised after discovering a purchaser’s lawyer was not on their banks panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the home move being delayed by an average of three weeks. It is estimated that this issue affects in the region of 100,000 home moves annually. Many Llanrumney conveyancing practices can not act for certain mortgage companies so do check at the outset.

Having sold my house in Llanrumney last May yet the purchaser is Skype messaging daily complaining that his lawyer needs to hear from myconveyancer. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?

Following your disposal your solicitor should deliver the transfer deeds and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. Where relevant, your solicitor must also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been discharged to the buyers solicitors. There are no post completion procedures specific conveyancing in Llanrumney.

I have a decision in principle. The bank mentioned the home loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to use their panel solicitor as I would prefer to instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Llanrumney?

Do check but the chances are that appoint one of their panel lawyers if you want the "fee-free" incentive. Contact the lender to explore if they allow a monetary alternative. It is not unheard for a lender to give a £250 cashback as a further option in which case you could put that amount towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor in Llanrumney.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Llanrumney I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Llanrumney for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?

Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.