I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in Burnham and the estate agent has just e-mailed to advise that the purchasers are switching law firm. The excuse is that the lender will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Burnham ?

Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.

Lenders blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.

My wife and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Burnham with . We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to . This is solely used to protect if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

It is a dozen years since I bought my house in Burnham. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down my title deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?

Don’t worry too much. First there is a chance that the deeds will be retained by the lender or they may stored with the conveyancers who handled the purchase. Secondly in all probability the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring up to date copy of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Burnham relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.

Is there a list of panel conveyancers in Burnham on the Building Society Association’s Website?

No. There is no such directory service on the CML or Building Society Association sites. Very few lenders make their panel listings viewable over the internet. Where you are seeking to appoint a Burnham on the please use our tool.

We had instructed conveyancing lawyers located in Burnham on the solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a supplemental amount for dealing with the mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by ?

Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your may charge a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by but by your Burnham . Plenty of firms on the panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but many practices incorporate it on their overall fee.

Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with . Burnham conveyancing lawyers have been instructed. How long does it take for to issue the offer to the ?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have conducted the survey? Have you advised as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.

I purchased a renovated Edwardian property in Burnham. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. Is it worth asking to clarify?

You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Burnham and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.