Much to our surprise we have been advised by our mortgage adviser that my Redland property lawyer is not on the mortgage company Solicitor panel. How can I check?

The sensible course of action for you to take is to call your Redland lawyer directly. You lawyer should notify you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the approved list of lawyers for your bank.

My wife and I are soon to complete on the purchase of a property in Redland but as a result of damage from a small fire at the property I have managed to agree reparation from the seller in the sum of £2k by way of a deduction in the price. This was going to be addressed as part of the conveyancing process however Bank of Ireland are not allowing this. Why were they notified?

Your property lawyer that is on a Bank of Ireland approved list is required to advise Bank of Ireland of any variations to the sale price. If you prohibit your conveyancing practitioner to report the price change to Bank of Ireland then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Bank of Ireland and you would have to appoint a new solicitor for your conveyancing in Redland.

As someone unfamiliar with conveyancing in Redland what’s your top tip you can give me concerning the house moving process in Redland

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Redland and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of opportunity for conflict between you and other parties involved in the legal transfer of property. E.g., the vendor, selling agent and even potentially the mortgage company. Choosing a law firm for your conveyancing in Redland an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY party in the transaction whose responsibility is to protect your best interests and to protect you.

There is a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be at fault for the process being so protracted. You your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor ahead of the other parties in the conveyancing process.

My husband and I are hoping to buy a newbuild flat in Redland with a mortgage from Chelsea Building Society.We use our Redland conveyancing practitioner but Chelsea Building Society says her practice is not on their approved list of firms. We have to appoint a Chelsea Building Society panel firm or retain our high street solicitor and pay for a Chelsea Building Society panel lawyer to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. The mortgage issued to you contains terms and conditions, one of which will be that conveyancers will be on the Chelsea Building Society approved list. in the past, most mortgage companies 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. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Chelsea Building Society

I'm purchasing a new build house in Redland benefiting from help to buy. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The estate agent suggested that I not reveal to my solicitor about the side-deal as it could jeopardize my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

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.