Me and my partner are buying a 1 bedroom flat in Llandeilo with a mortgage. We like our Llandeilo solicitor, however the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or keep our Llandeilo property lawyer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We feel that this is inequitable; 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 lender’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. Another option that might be available is for your Llandeilo conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My wife and I are purchasing a apartment in Llandeilo. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? On completion day we have to put our life savings into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our deposit?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

I am planning to move house in February. Should my conveyancing solicitor call the removal company on the day of completion. As an aside, can you put forward a removal company in Llandeilo. Conveyancing firm was found prior to coming across your page.

On the afternoon of completion you will need to pick up the keys from your estate agent however this can only occur when the sellers solicitors confirm to the agent that they have the completion monies and the keys can be passed over. After that you should advise the removal company that they can start moving you in. As a matter of policy we do not recommend a specific removal organisation but can help you find a residential property solicitor in Llandeilo or a firm that specialises in conveyancing in Llandeilo.

When it comes to mortgage companies such as Coventry BS, do Llandeilo conveyancing practitioners incur a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?

We are not aware of any bank fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

As co-executor for the estate of my aunt I am selling a house in Neath but reside in Llandeilo. My conveyancer (approximately 260 miles awayneeds me to sign a stat dec before completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in Llandeilo who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?

strictly speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Llandeilo based

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Llandeilo with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Llandeilo can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ conveyancers.
If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a Llandeilo home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible. A minority of Llandeilo leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors. Many freeholders or managing agents in Llandeilo levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Llandeilo.

I acquired a ground floor flat in Llandeilo, conveyancing formalities finalised June 1999. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable properties in Llandeilo with a long lease are worth £206,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2090

With just 65 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £13,300 and £15,400 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Me and my wife have just had an offer agreed on a house and had meeting on Wednesday with HSBC for the mortgage. They have informed me that when it comes to appointing a property lawyer that if they are not on their approved list of lawyers then we will incur a further charge of £200. This is because they will then have to instruct a conveyancer to act for them as well as the one we appoint for ourselves and we are liable for their fees. I have requested HSBC to provide me with a list so I can seek estimates only from their approved lawyers but was told that I need to check with each individual lawyer to see if they are on the panel. Is there a simple way of finding out who is on a lender panel?

You should ask HSBC what their panel criteria is for a conveyancer.Then ask the lawyer of your choice whether they meet the criteria and have they acted on loans for HSBC in the past. Where the answer to those is yes, then just double check with HSBC. Another option is to use our search tool and we should be able to find you a property lawyer in Llandeilo on the approved list for HSBC.