We are buying a 1 bedroom apartment in Boldon with a mortgage. We have a Boldon conveyancer, however the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have little choice but to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or continue with our Boldon conveyancing practitioner as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel that this is unjust; can we not require that the bank use our Boldon conveyancing practitioner ?

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 Boldon conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

I used Arc property Solicitors a few years past for my conveyancing in Boldon. I now require my file however the law firm has closed. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Boldon of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

What tools are available to search for a Boldon solicitor on the Birmingham Midshires conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am willing to travel upto 20kilometers to meet the conveyancer.

Feel free to make use of the tool on this page. Please select a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Boldon conveyancing lawyers locally. We have detailed some Boldon conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to check whether they are on the Birmingham Midshires member panel

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Boldon conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Boldon conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggest that you speak with two or three firms including non Boldon conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. The following questions could be of use:

How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?

Leasehold Conveyancing in Boldon - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

The majority of Boldon leasehold flats will have a service charge for the upkeep of the block set by the management company. If you acquire the flat you will have to meet this liability, normally periodically during the year. This can vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, normally this is not a significant amount, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to check as occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive. The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the lessees have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. What restrictions are contained in the Boldon Lease?

Some weeks ago I was advised by my lender that their panel lawyers work on no sale no charge basis for conveyancing in Boldon. Our purchase did not proceed nevertheless the lawyers have requested search fees! They say the fees are nothing to do with their fees!

By promising "no move no fee" Boldon conveyancing lawyers are waiving their fees for any work conducted. We must stress this is NOT an insurance scheme. Disbursements aren’t covered – where the solicitor have to pay money out to third parties, e.g. Boldon local search fees