Me and my fiance are hoping to purchase a 1 bedroom apartment in Chatteris with a mortgage. We like our Chatteris lawyer, however the lender says she’s not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to select one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or retain our Chatteris and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; are we not able to demand that the lender use our Chatteris ?

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 Chatteris conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

Are the Chatteris conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by ?

Chatteris conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from directly.

We are selling our house in Chatteris. Does the need to be required to be on the conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently currently.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Chatteris benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to move on the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about the extras as it may impact my loan with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I am looking to sell my house. My former lawyers closed down. I am in need of a recommendation of a conveyancing firm. Im based in Chatteris if that makes things easier.

You should use our search tool to help you choose a solicitor for your conveyancing in Chatteris. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with lender approved solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move goes with a minimum of fuss.