My husband and I are looking to acquire a house in Bishops Waltham and are in fact using a Bishops Waltham conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Bishops Waltham conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Bishops Waltham lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

The deeds to our house are lost. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Bishops Waltham 4 years ago no longer exist. Will I be able to sell the house?

Assuming the title is registered the details of your proprietorship will be documented by HMLR with a Title Number. It is easy to conduct a search at the Land Registry, find your house and order up to date copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for £20 inclusive of VAT.

How does conveyancing in Bishops Waltham differ for new build properties?

Most buyers of new build premises in Bishops Waltham come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is constructed. This is because new home sellers in Bishops Waltham tend to buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Bishops Waltham or who has acted in the same development.

I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Bishops Waltham for my house move. Is there any facility to check a firm’s record with the profession’s regulator?

Anyone may review documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from investigations from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. For information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. For non-uk callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could monitor telephone calls for training purposes.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Bishops Waltham conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Bishops Waltham conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Bishops Waltham conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions could be helpful:

If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason? Can they put you in touch with clients in Bishops Waltham who can give a testimonial?

I acquired a 1st floor flat in Bishops Waltham, conveyancing was carried out in 2005. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Bishops Waltham with a long lease are worth £179,000. The ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease finishes on 21st October 2082

You have 57 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £26,600 and £30,800 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.