My fiance and I are buying a newbuild apartment in Warrington with a homeloan from Alliance & Leicester .We have a Warrington conveyancing solicitor but Alliance & Leicester informed us her practice is not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct a Alliance & Leicester panel solicitor or retain our local solicitor and fork out for a Alliance & Leicester panel lawyer to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The loan offered to you contains various provisions, a common one being that lawyers must be on the Alliance & Leicester approved list. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Alliance & Leicester

Can you point me to a directory of Nottingham panel conveyancers in Warrington on the Building Society Association’s Website?

No. There is no such facility on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few lenders make their panel listings visible online. Where you are seeking to appoint a Warrington property lawyer on the Nottingham please make the most of our tool.

We had instructed conveyancers with offices in Warrington on the Kent Reliance solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a supplemental sum for the legal aspects of the Kent Reliance mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Kent Reliance?

Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancer may levy a fee for this. This charge is not set by Kent Reliance but by your Warrington lawyer. Numerous firms on the Kent Reliance panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

My wife and I have arranged the release of further monies on our home loan from Bank of Ireland as we want to carry out alterations to our property in Warrington. Do we need to choose a nearby Warrington solicitor on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

Bank of Ireland don't usually appoint a member of their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Bank of Ireland panel.

I have justdiscovered that Action Conveyancing have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Warrington for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 18 months ago. How can I establish that the property is in my name in the name of the former proprietor?

The quickest method to see if the premises is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Warrington conveyancing specialists.

I am purchasing my first flat in Warrington with a mortgage from The Royal Bank of Scotland. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep told me not disclose to my lawyer about the extras as it would put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.

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

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Warrington is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Warrington are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Warrington you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Warrington may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.