My fiance and I are looking to acquire a home in Cawthorne and are in fact using a Cawthorne conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Nationwide Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Cawthorne conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 solicitor 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Cawthorne solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Cawthorne. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?

Having exchanged you will need to find a conveyancing solicitor soon as you are faced with a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the purchase. All auction property should have a corresponding auction set of papers. This will likely include most,if not all of the documents that your conveyancer will need. Where you are dealing with leasehold premises the auction papers should provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation relating to leasehold premises. You should hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding in order to complete on the on the contractual date .

My aunt pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Cawthorne there could be a number of restrictions preventing external alterations to a property. Is this right?

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

After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Cawthorne. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Soon after, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Should commercial conveyancing searches reveal planned roadworks that could affect a commercial land in Cawthorne?

Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Cawthorne will execute a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers invest in researching accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Cawthorne. The search result provides definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Cawthorne.

For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Cawthorne it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately can result in delays to Cawthorne commercial conveyancing transactions as well as present a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not conducted for residential conveyancing in Cawthorne.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Cawthorne. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Cawthorne

If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision.

I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing lawyer in Cawthorne for my sale. Can I check a firm’s record with the profession’s regulator?

Members of the public can search for documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors record, ring 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. For callers outside the UK, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator may monitor telephone calls for training purposes.