I am 3 weeks into the sale of my apartment in Barrowden and the EA has just text me to say that the buyers are changing their law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only engage with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Barrowden ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for many years.

Lenders attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms 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 purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

Completed the sale of my flat in Barrowden last October but our buyer keeps e-mailing daily to say her lawyer is waiting to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?

Following your house sale your solicitor should send the transfer deeds and all additional paperwork to the purchaser's solicitors. Where relevant, your lawyer must also confirm that the home loan has been paid off to the purchasers lawyers. There are no post completion tasks specific conveyancing in Barrowden.

A relative pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Barrowden there could be a number of restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external changes to the property. Is this right?

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

We have agreed to purchase a house in Barrowden. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender UBS be concerned?

Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with UBS your lawyer must check the conveyancing instructions set out in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for UBS. The CML Handbook stipulates minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to UBS where a lease fails to comply with these specifications. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not restricted to Barrowden.

The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in Barrowden. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.

I'm buying a new build house in Barrowden benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not inform my lawyer about the deal as it may jeopardize my mortgage with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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

Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Barrowden ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks will not issue a loan on this type of house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Barrowden. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Barrowden to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.