My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a property in Brighouse and are in fact using a Brighouse conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Alliance & Leicester have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Brighouse solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Brighouse solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

I am purchasing a house and the conveyancer has mentioned Chancel Repair for which the property could be liable because it falls into the area of such a church. She has recommended insurance. Is this really warranted for conveyancing in Brighouse

Unless a prior purchase of the property took place after 12 October 2013 you could expect solicitors conducting conveyancing in Brighouse to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.

How does conveyancing in Brighouse differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build property in Brighouse approach us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Brighouse tend to purchase the real estate, 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 property lawyers 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 Brighouse or who has acted in the same development.

How simple is it to use your search app to choose a conveyancing practitioner in Brighouse on the panel for my bank?

First choose a mortgage company such as Santander, The Mortgage Works or Bank of Ireland then specify your preferred area such as Brighouse. Conveyancing firms in Brighouse and nationally should be shown.

I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the mortgage company approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?

Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the lender conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the lender solicitor panel.