I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in Bishops Stortford and the estate agent has just text me to say that the buyers are switching law firm. The excuse is that the lender will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only work with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Bishops Stortford ?

Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.

Mortgage companies justify this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says 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. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.

Will conveyancers ask for an advanced payment for my conveyancing in Bishops Stortford?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Bishops Stortford your lawyer will ask you to provide them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is payable against the purchase price then this should be required immediately prior to exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a few days ahead of the completion date.

I am purchasing a new build house in Bishops Stortford with a loan from Halifax. The builders would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The estate agent suggested that I not disclose to my lawyer about this deal as it may adversely affect my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.

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.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Bishops Stortford is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Bishops Stortford are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Bishops Stortford you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Bishops Stortford may ascertain 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 property.

How easy is it to use your search app to select a conveyancing lawyer in Bishops Stortford on the panel for my bank?

Step one is to choose a lender such as HSBC Bank, Barnsley Building Society or Nottingham Building Society then type in your preferred area for example Bishops Stortford. Conveyancing practices in Bishops Stortford and nationally should be listed.