I am in the process of selling my maisonette in Laindon and the EA has just called to warn that the buyers are swapping solicitor. The excuse is that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Laindon ?

Banks have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.

Lenders justify this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some 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.

We are purchasing a newly converted flat in Laindon with a mortgage from Platform Home Loans Ltd.We use our Laindon conveyancing practitioner but Platform Home Loans Ltd advised that she’s not listed on their "panel". we are left little option but to use a Platform Home Loans Ltd panel lawyer or keep our local solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The loan offered to you contains terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers must be on the Platform Home Loans Ltd solicitor panel. in the past, most lenders had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find 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 lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Platform Home Loans Ltd

My relative advised me that where I am purchasing in Laindon I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Laindon conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Laindon around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Laindon Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Laindon Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Laindon.

I was advised by numerous property agents in Laindon to find a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to promote your services over and above another?

We refuse to give any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

Is it best to use a Laindon conveyancing solicitor based in the location that I am hoping to buy? I have an old university friend who can deal with the conveyancing however they are based 200miles away.

The benefit of a high street Laindon conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to sign documents, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. However it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and on the whole were content that should outweigh using an unfamiliar Laindon conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being Laindon based.