I am 4 weeks into the sale of my house in Alton and the estate agent has just telephoned to advise that the buyers are appointing a new solicitor. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading lender only deal with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Alton ?

Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for over 25 years.

Lending institutions justify this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are not going to have any impact on this.

If you had a top tip for selecting a conveyancing solicitor in Alton what would it be?

It would be unwise to be swayed by the cheapest Alton conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.

We previously chose conveyancers located in Alton on the RBS solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional charge for dealing with the RBS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by RBS?

Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your conveyancer can levy a fee for this. The charge is not set by RBS but by your Alton conveyancer. Plenty of firms on the RBS panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

My fiancee and I are in the throws of looking at apartments in Alton and I am about to put in an offer. Is it advisable to have my lawyer on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a home loan with Kent Reliance.

It would be sensible to instigate 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 pass their contact information on to the estate agent. As you are taking out a mortgage with Kent Reliance, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel.

Me and my brother have a 4 bedroom Georgian property in Alton. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Birmingham Midshires. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Alton and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.

Expecting to complete next month on a basement flat in Alton. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Alton should include some of the following:

The landlord’s rights to access the flat. You should be made aware that your landlord has rights of access as well as be informed how much notice must be provided. Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring? Rent payments - what is due and what the invoice dates are, and be on notice if this is subject to change Who has the liability to repair and maintain the main walls and foundations. It is important for you to know which party is liable for the repair and maintenance of all parts of the block and estate You should know whether the lease allows you to alter or upgrade aspects of the premises- you must be made aware as to whether it relates to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether permission is required

I inherited a 1st floor flat in Alton, conveyancing formalities finalised 9 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable properties in Alton with an extended lease are worth £222,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2095

You have 71 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

The solicitors carrying out our conveyancing in Alton has sent documents to review that show the property is unregistered with epitome documents. Surely all houses in Alton should be registered?

Whilst most properties in Alton are now registered with the Land Registry there are still some that are unregistered. Any property in Alton that has been purchased since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the HMLR under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Alton property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Many Alton conveyancing lawyers will be familiar with this type of conveyancing but in the event that uncertainty reigns the prevailing proposition these days is for the seller’s conveyancer to undertake the registration formalities first and subsequently deal with the transfer to the buyer - this can though naturally result in a significant delay.