My wife and I are hoping to acquire a 2 bedroom flat in Bow Street with a mortgage. We like our Bow Street lawyer, however the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel conveyancing practices or keep our Bow Street solicitor and pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. We regard this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’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. Another option that might be available is for your Bow Street conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

I am buying a terraced house in Bow Street. Can I do my own conveyancing?

Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing in Bow Street you will have to appoint a solicitor on your mortgage company's conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to be made in you doing conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on your lender panel in Bow Street.

How do I identify a Bow Street solicitor on the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am willing to travel upto 10miles to meet the solicitor.

You can use the search on this page. Please select a lender and your location and you will see a number of Bow Street conveyancing lawyers locally. We have listed some Bow Street conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can contact them to see whether they are on the Skipton Building Society approved list

I own a leasehold house in Bow Street. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Bow Street who acted for me is not around. Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Bow Street conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I bought a basement flat in Bow Street, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Bow Street with an extended lease are worth £227,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2096

You have 71 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

To what extent are Bow Street conveyancing solicitors under an obligation to the Law Society to supply transparent conveyancing costs?

Inbuilt into the Solicitors Code of Conduct are specific rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their charges to clients.The Law Society have practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not to be interpreted as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, however, represent the Law Society’s view of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in Bow Street or or elsewhere in the country.