I'm the sole beneficiary of my late mum's will with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Northampton. The Northampton property was put into my name in January. I now wish to sell up. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership may be treated the same way as though I had purchased the property in January. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be affected by that. Most banks would take a practical view as this clause is principally there to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of properties.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Northampton. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £200. A couple of days later, the solicitor called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Bank of Ireland panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Planning on purchasing a house in Northampton. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the TSB conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Northampton conveyancer is on the TSB conveyancing panel.

What will a local search inform me regarding the house we're purchasing in Northampton?

Northampton conveyancing often starts with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations such as Searchflow The local search is essential in every Northampton conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any nasty once you have moved into your property. The search should provide data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject headings.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Northampton is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Northampton are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Northampton you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Northampton may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

How do I search for a Northampton solicitor on the Santander conveyancing panel? I drive a motor bike and am happy to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the lawyer.

Feel free to make use of the facility on this website. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of Northampton conveyancing lawyers locally. We have listed some Northampton conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can call them to see whether they are on the Santander panel

We are contemplating choosing a web based solicitor rather than a Northampton conveyancing firm. Am I making a mistake?

Advantages do exist in having the option attend a local Northampton conveyancing solicitor such as

• signing documents on short notice
• often being able to see someone face-to-face can make a significant difference, particularly for more complex transactions
• the ability to complain if matters are not going as expected

When checking quotes, look out for hidden extras. Most decent Northampton high street solicitors give an all-inclusive price. Many online agents seem to offer cheap prices, but have hidden 'extras' in the fine print.