I am in the process of selling my apartment in Basildon and the EA has just called to say that the buyers are appointing a new solicitor. The excuse is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Basildon ?

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

Banks blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been narrowed 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 claims that 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.

The Basildon conveyancing firm handling our Basildon conveyancing has uncovered a difference when comparing the information in the valuation survey and what is revealed within the conveyancing documents. My lawyer informs me that he must ensure that the lender is happy with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my lawyer’s approach appropriate?

Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for both parties.

My flat in Basildon is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Does my lawyer need to be required to be on the Principality conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Principality conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently in recent years.

I'm buying my first flat in Basildon with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The property agent told me not reveal to my lawyer about the side-deal as it will adversely affect my loan with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.

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.

I am looking for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one near me in Basildon I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Basildon suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.