Me and my husband are buying a maisonette in Marsden. My Conveyancer has never been on on the bank solicitor list. Is it possible for me to appoint my Marsden conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the lender list of approved lawyers?

You have a number of alternatives available to you here

• Carry on with your chosen Marsden conveyancer but your mortgage company will no doubt retain a conveyancing practitioner on their approved panel. The net result is additional charges and probable interruption.
• Get a fresh property lawyer to act in the purchase, making sure they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
• Convince your lawyer to attempt to join the lender panel

I am due to complete on the purchase of a property in Marsden but as a consequence of damage from the recent storms I have managed to agree recompense from the vendor in the sum of £3k in the form of a reduction in the price. This was going to be addressed as part of amending the contract yet Leeds Building Society are not allowing this. Should they have been approached?

The lawyer being on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel is required to inform Leeds Building Society of any amendments to the sale price. If you were to refuse your property lawyer to disclose the reduction to Leeds Building Society then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Leeds Building Society and you would have to appoint a new conveyancer for your conveyancing in Marsden.

A colleague advised me that in buying a property in Marsden there could be a number of restrictions prohibiting external changes to a property. Is this right?

There are anumerous of properties in Marsden which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Marsden should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

We expect to receive a DIP from TSB this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do TSB recommend any Marsden solicitors on the TSB conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?

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

After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Marsden. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £175. A couple of days later, the property lawyer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the RBS 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 RBS 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.

I am buying my first flat in Marsden with a mortgage from Birmingham Midshires. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent suggested that I not to tell my solicitor about the deal as it may put at risk my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.

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.

Why can I not complete our conveyancing in Marsden on a public holiday?

Because on completion the money will be transferred electronically between the banks of the purchaser and seller's lawyer and currently this can only take place on a working day. It is not possible to complete on a saturday or sunday either.