My husband and I are intending to buy a 2 bedroom apartment in Bagshot with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Bagshot conveyancer, however the lender says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have little option but to use one of the mortgage company panel firms or retain our Bagshot lawyer and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. We regard this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. 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 Bagshot conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

The Bagshot conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my purchase in Bagshot have suddenly closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a firm on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel and my preferred Bagshot lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What should be my next steps?

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. 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 Virgin Money 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 lawyers should be in a position to assist.

My friend suggested that where I am buying in Bagshot I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Bagshot conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Bagshot around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Bagshot.

I am buying a new build house in Bagshot with a loan from Accord Mortgages Ltd. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The property agent told me not to tell my solicitor about the deal as it may jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

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 decided to have a survey completed on a house in Bagshot before appointing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor advised that some lenders tend refuse to grant a mortgage on such a home.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can check via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Bagshot. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.