I am acquiring a property for cash in Langford. I have lived for the previous 20 years in Langford. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. Given that I have knowledge of the area and road intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

Provided that you do not need a mortgage, then all but one or two of the Langford conveyancing searches are optional. Your solicitor will try and steer you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but he has a professional duty to take that path of advice. One thing to consider; if you are going to sell the house at a future date, it could be of importance to your prospective purchaser what the searches disclose. There are plenty of instances where premises with apparent issues can still throw up adverse search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Langford will be able to give you some sensible guidance here.

Is it necessary during the course of the conveyancing process to attend the offices of the solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will instruct a firm who offer conveyancing in Langford so that I can pop in to their offices when needed.

As opposed to twenty years ago, the vast majority lenders no longer oblige their conveyancing panel lawyer to witness the borrowers signature. It will still be necessary for you to hand over identification documents and there are still manifest advantages to using a locally based ayer, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Langford.

I am assisting my step-mother sell her flat in Langford. Will the conveyancer order the EPC or do I organise this?

After the demise of HIPs, energy assessments was retained a required component of moving house. An energy assessment should be to hand before the property is placed on the market. This is not something that conveyancers normally arrange. If you are using a Langford conveyancing practitioner they might help arrange energy performance certificates given their relationships with long established local energy assessors

Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Langford. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How do I make a complaint?

All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.

My offer was accepted on a property in Langford on 3/12/2024, valuation was booked 3 days later, all came back fine. Solicitor retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to RBS and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel. Are RBS entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?

A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for RBS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the RBS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I am purchasing a new build house in Langford with a mortgage from Alliance & Leicester . The developers refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The estate agent told me not inform my lawyer about this deal as it could adversely affect my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

Am I right to be concerned that 3rd parties that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a factory type conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Langford conveyancing practice?

As with lots of professional services, often referrals from family and friends can be very helpful. Nevertheless there are many players in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, financial adviser and mortgage companies may recommend conveyancers to use. Sometimes the lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but sometimes there may be a financial incentive behind the endorsement. You have the discretion to choose your own conveyancer. You need to be aware that most lenders operate an approved list of solicitors you must use for the mortgage aspect of your home move.