My husband and I are planning to acquire a property in Boxmoor and are in fact using a Boxmoor conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. TSB have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Boxmoor lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Boxmoor solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

My wife and I purchased a 4 bedroom Georgian property in Boxmoor. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Britannia. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. Is it worth asking Britannia to clarify?

You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Boxmoor and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Boxmoor with a mortgage from Nationwide Building Society. The sellers refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The property agent advised me not inform my solicitor about the deal as it could adversely affect my mortgage with Nationwide Building Society. 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.

Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Boxmoor before appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will refuse to issue a mortgage on such a premises.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Boxmoor. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

My partner has encouraged me to use his lawyers for conveyancing in Boxmoor. Do I take his advice?

Much as we are happy to recommend a Boxmoor conveyancing lawyer the ideal way to select a conveyancing lawyer is to seek recommendations from friends or relatives who have used the solicitor you're considering.