Having sold my house in Swavesey last October but my buyer keeps SMS messaging daily to say his solicitor needs to hear from mine. What should have happened following completion?

After completion of your house sale your lawyer should forward the transfer deeds and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. If applicable, your conveyancer must also send confirmation that the home loan has been repaid to the buyers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion procedures just for conveyancing in Swavesey.

I have an AIP. The lender mentioned the loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to appoint their panel solicitor as I would prefer to appoint a Swavesey based conveyancing firm?

Do check but the chances are that appoint one of their panel solicitors should you take up the "fee-free" deal. Call the mortgage company and ask if they offer you a cash alternative. In the past a few mortgage companies offered a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case that money can go towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor near Swavesey.

Please help - my lawyer says that restrictive coveneant insurance is required on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Swavesey conveyancing?

The right level of restrictive coveneant indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Yorkshire Building Society and Chelsea Building Society. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.

Are all Swavesey Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the HSBC conveyancing list of approved firms?

A selection of banks and building societies now make use of CQS as the kick off point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.

Is it the case that all Swavesey conveyancing solicitors on the UBS conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the UBS conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the CLC.

The deeds to our house are lost. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Swavesey 10 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?

As long as the title is registered the information relating to your proprietorship will be documented by HMLR with a Title Number. It is possible to execute a search at the Land Registry, identify your house and secure up to date copies of the property title for a small fee. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for £20 inclusive of VAT.

My step-son is about to join the property ladder, he had his mortgage in principle. When the seller agreed the offer on the apartment we telephoned the building society to progress the mortgage application. We were disappointed to hear that mortgage companies do not accept all conveyancer, they need to be on their approved list, is this legal?

Mortgage Companies normally restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Swavesey solicitor on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.