My husband and I are hoping to acquire a 1 bedroom flat in Christchurch with a mortgage. We have a Christchurch solicitor, however the bank says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or keep our Christchurch conveyancer and pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Christchurch conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

At what point will exchange of contracts happen for residential conveyancing in Christchurch and do I need to attend the solicitors office?

If you are near to our conveyancing solicitors in Christchurch you are welcome to attend to sign the paperwork. However, the law practices we recommend provide a nationwide conveyancing service and provide as equally detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you digitally. The executing of the sale agreement is not the important part. Signing on the dotted line is necessary for the firm to address the formalities when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a lengthy "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Christchurch)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.

We hope to to buy with Melton Mowbray Building Society. I visited 3 or 4 local practices but am unable to find a Christchurch conveyancing firm on the Melton Mowbray Building Society panel. Can you assist?

Please do make use of the search tool on this page. Please choose the mortgage company and type Christchurch or your location and you will discover a number of lawyer offices in Christchurch or near you.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Christchurch. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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 legal work.

Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Christchurch

Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?

Hoping to buy a property located in Christchurch and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Christchurch. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Christchurch area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Christchurch. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found