I am selling my flat in St George and the estate agent has just called to advise that the purchasers are switching conveyancer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a big named lender only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in St George ?

Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 25 years.

Mortgage companies justify this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

My wife and I are refinancing our flat in St George with Nationwide. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Nationwide conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Nationwide conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Nationwide. This is solely used to protect Nationwide if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Nationwide had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

Finally the sale completed on my house in St George last June yet the purchaser is calling daily complaining that their conveyancer needs to hear from myconveyancer. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?

Post completion of your disposal your solicitor should deliver the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Where appropriate, your lawyer must also evidence that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been repaid to the purchasers lawyers. There is unlikely to be post completion tasks unique to conveyancing in St George.

How do I check that the solicitor handling my conveyancing in St George is on the bank’sconveyancing panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for Barnsley Building Society thus spending £187.00 plus VAT in additional conveyancing invoice.

Feel free to take advantage of the search tool on this web page. Please choose the mortgage company and type ‘St George’ or your preferred area and you will see a number of lawyer based in St George or near you.

I used Stirling Law a few years past for my conveyancing in St George. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?

Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in St George of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.