My husband and I are hoping to purchase a property in Whalley and are in fact using a Whalley conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Aldermore have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Whalley conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Whalley lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Do lawyers ask for money up-front for conveyancing in Whalley?

If you are buying a property in Whalley your solicitor will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. When the down payment is as part of the purchase price then this will be needed shortly before contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is needed will be payable a few days prior to the completion date.

I have recentlydiscovered that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Whalley for a purchase of a freehold house 18 months ago. How can I check that the property is in my name in the name of the previous owner?

The easiest method to see if the premises is in your name, you can make 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 Whalley conveyancing specialists.

I have been recommended by a number of estate agents in Whalley to select a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to recommend your services over alternative conveyancing organisations?

We don’t give any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

My wife and I accepted an offer on a Whalley apartment left to us ten years ago in 2011. I have over a decades worth of conveyancing know-how and, now retired, wish to conduct my own legal work. The purchaser's property lawyer has informed me that their bank will not allow us to do our own conveyancing as they require the funds to be transferred to a solicitor's bank account.

Mortgage requirements to solicitors from all CML members state that If the vendor is not legally represented the buyer’s lawyers should check whether the mortgage company needs to be informed so that a decision can be reached as to whether they are willing to proceed.