I am 3 weeks into the sale of my house in Harbury and the estate agent has just text me to warn that the buyers are swapping conveyancer. The reason given is that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Harbury ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.

Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. 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 do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.

Will lawyers request money on account for my conveyancing in Harbury?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Harbury your lawyer will request that you to provide them with monies to cover the search fees. Normally this is needed to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. When the down payment is as part of the total price then this should be asked for immediately before contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is needed will be payable shortly before completion.

I purchased a semi-detached Victorian property in Harbury. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Coventry Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Harbury and other areas of 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 position with the conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.

Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Harbury before instructing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders will refuse to issue a loan on this type of house.

It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Harbury. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

We're new to the buying process - agreed a price, but the property agent has warned us that the vendor will only go ahead if we use the agent's preferred conveyancers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in Harbury

We suspect that the seller is unaware of this requirement. Should the owner want ‘a quick sale', turning down a serious buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Try to communicate with the sellers directly and make the point that (a)you are motivated purchasers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to instruct your own,trusted Harbury conveyancing firm - rather thanthe ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a referral fee or hit his conveyancing thresholds set by senior management.