We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in St Margarets for our house purchase. Our financial adviser informed us that our mortgage lenders Santander won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unduly restrictive?

Lenders in the main restrict either the category or the number of conveyancing practices on their panel. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. As well as restricting the type of firm, some have limited the amount of firms they use to act for them. Be aware that Santander have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Santander Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a primary driver in the rationalisation of solicitor panels since 2008 even though there are differing opinions about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms, including some in or near St Margarets only conduct one or two conveyances a year.

I currently have a mortgage with Yorkshire BS for my property in St Margarets. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Yorkshire BS?

Your original mortgage agreement with Yorkshire BS will provide that you need their approval before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Yorkshire BS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Yorkshire BS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel firm.

I can not fathom if my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my St Margarets building society branch on various occasions and was informed it wasn't an issue and they would lend. My St Margarets conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called to say that they refuse to lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I have no idea who is right.

Your conveyancer has to follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook Part 2 conditions for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.

I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local St Margarets solicitor - who is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?

Co-operative will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Co-operative will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own St Margarets surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in St Margarets. Now, I need the documents but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate 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 Margarets of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

How does conveyancing in St Margarets differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build premises in St Margarets come to us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is finished. This is because developers in St Margarets typically purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in St Margarets or who has acted in the same development.

We are in the throes of selling our flat in St Margarets. Conveyancing is fine but we have been asked to pay a fortune from the freeholder. So far we have paid £295.50 for a leasehold management pack and then another £117.20 for supplemental questions supplied by the buyers property lawyer.

You will not have control over the extent of the charges for this information but the average fee for the information for St Margarets leasehold property is £355. For St Margarets conveyancing deals it is conventional for the seller to cover the costs. The freeholder or their agents are not duty bound to address these questions most will be content to do so - albeit often at high prices disproportionate to the work involved. Regretfully there is no statute that requires set charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any set time frame by which they are obliged to supply answers.