My partner and I are only a couple days away from an exchange on a house in Ruddington and my mum and dad have sent the 10% deposit to my solicitor. I am now told that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my conveyancing practitioner needs to disclose this to my bank. Apparently, in also acting for the bank he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I disclosed to the bank concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for him to raise this?

The lawyer is legally required to check with mortgage company to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. Your solicitor can only report this to your bank if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

Do the Building Society Association intend to launch a online directory to list solicitors on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel for example in Ruddington?

We have not been informed any intention on the part of the BSA to develop such a tool.

A friend advised me that in purchasing a property in Ruddington there could be various restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external changes to the property. Is this right?

There are anumerous of properties in Ruddington which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Ruddington should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Ruddington. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.

I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Ruddington. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £225. A couple of days later, the solicitor called me to say that they were not on the Yorkshire BS 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 Yorkshire BS 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.

The deeds to my property can not be found. The conveyancers who dealt with the conveyancing in Ruddington 10 years ago are no longer around. Will I be able to sell the house?

You no longer need to have the physical deeds to establish that you own the land or property, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.

At what stage do I incur the Stamp Duty Land Tax payable for my Ruddington house purchase?

The conveyancer should fill out a stamp duty return for you as part of your Ruddington conveyancing transaction for signature. After completion your solicitor will submit the STL Return Form to the Inland Revenue and - as long as they have the money - settle any Stamp Duty payable for you.