My fiance and I are planning to buy a house in Chellaston and have instructed a Chellaston conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Yorkshire Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Chellaston conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal 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 lender 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 as you are at liberty to use your preferred Chellaston lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

All was ready to move into my new home in Chellaston next Friday. My conveyancer now wants me to supply her with evidence of content and building insurance for the property as he says that he has to check this in his capacity as lawyer for the lender. What does the insurance need to cover?

Any lawyer on acting for banks would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s Part 2 instructions. These requirements are not limited to conveyancing in Chellaston.

We have agreed to purchase a house in Chellaston. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. TSB have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

Given that your lender is TSB your lawyer must follow the conveyancing instructions contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for TSB. The CML Handbook includes minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to TSB where a lease fails to satisfy these conditions. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not limited to Chellaston.

I'm at the point of looking at houses in Chellaston and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a home loan with UBS.

You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the estate agent. As you are seeking a mortgage with UBS, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the UBS conveyancing panel.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Co-operative. I assume I don't need a Chellaston property lawyer on the Co-operative panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Co-operative mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Co-operative mortgage from the register. Co-operative, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Co-operative has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Co-operative has instructed the Land Registry to do so

Me and my brother own a 4 bedroom Victorian property in Chellaston. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Nationwide Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to assess 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 Chellaston and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to meet my requirements, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Chellaston. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Chellaston are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Chellaston so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Chellaston conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.