I am selling my house in Trafford and the EA has just text me to say that the buyers are swapping solicitor. The excuse is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading mortgage company only deal with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Trafford ?

Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.

Lenders blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms 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. The buyers are not going to have any impact on this.

I am selling our house in Trafford and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. Any high street Trafford conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using a national conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Trafford. We have lived in Trafford for six years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to get clarification need.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)

I completed on my flat on 4 February and my personal details is not yet registered. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Trafford said it would be registered in a couple of weeks. Are transfers in Trafford particularly slow to register?

There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Trafford registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can adjust according to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry have to notify any other parties. Currently roughly three quarters of such applications are fully addressed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be protracted delays. Registration takes place once the buyer is living at the property so registration formalities is not typically primary concern but where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your conveyancer could communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.

I am purchasing my first flat in Trafford with a mortgage from Yorkshire Building Society. The builders would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not inform my solicitor about this extras as it would put at risk my mortgage with Yorkshire Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.

How easy is it to switch conveyancer as I need to instruct a firm on the Santander conveyancing panel. I hired a family conveyancing solicitor in Trafford round the corner but she is not approved by Santander

We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Trafford on the Santander panel. Please note that the property lawyers that we on the directory do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are under regulation of the Solicitors Regulation Authority who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Trafford. In making use of search facility on this page, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in Trafford.