My wife and I are hoping to buy a house in Whitmore and are in fact using a Whitmore conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Whitmore conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 lender 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Whitmore lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

I am approaching an exchange on a property in Whitmore and my mum and dad have sent the ten percent deposit to my conveyancing practitioner. I am now advised that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my property lawyer needs to make a notification to my lender. I am advised that, in also acting for the bank he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I informed the bank concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for this now to be an issue?

Your lawyer is duty bound to clarify with the bank to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only report this to your bank if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

The Whitmore conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my purchase in Whitmore have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a firm on the UBS conveyancing panel and my preferred Whitmore lawyer was not. I paid them funds on account. What should be my next steps?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the UBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to help.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Whitmore. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Whitmore

The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor apartment in Whitmore. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have recently received a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice as you normally would as all ground rent and service invoices will be allotted on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Whitmore Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before buying

The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the tenants enjoy control and although a managing agent is often retained if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Are there any major works in the near future that will likely add a premium to the service fees? Best to be warned if redecorating or some other significant cost is due in the near future that will be shared between the leaseholders and will dramatically increase the the service costs or result in a specific payment.