I am six weeks into the sale of my maisonette in Borrowash and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the buyers are changing their solicitor. The reason given is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a big named lender only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Borrowash ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can act for 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 worked with them for over 25 years.

Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms 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 purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.

We were just about to exchange contracts for a leasehold flat in Borrowash. We have hit a stumbling block. The loan offer with Halifax expires on 12/2/2025 but the vendors are suggesting a completion date of 14/2/2025. Is it possible to extend the loan expiry date?

The best person to deal with your question is your solicitors who will hopefully calculate if he or she is better off negotiating with the mortgage broker, owner’s representatives, property agents or possibly all three based on the history of your conveyancing to date.

I am buying a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Borrowash who is on the Halifax conveyancing. Can you recommend a local conveyancing firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Halifax in certain locations such as Borrowash. We dont recommend any particular firm.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Borrowash?

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Borrowash. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

A conveyancing company acted on my conveyancing in Borrowash seven years past having retained my registration certificates but has now closed – What can I do to retreive them?

Deeds, as such, are no longer appropriate for the majority of homes in Borrowash are registered digitally at Land Registry. Where you need to establish evidence of proprietorship or are disposing of or re-mortgaging your solicitor should obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.

If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned as quickly as possible.