Me and my fiance are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in Chorley with a mortgage. We like our Chorley conveyancer, but the bank says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or retain our Chorley lawyer and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. 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 Chorley conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My partner and I are planning on selling our house in Chorley and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. A local lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used a web based conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Chorley. Having lived in Chorley for many years we know that this is a non issue. Should we contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation that the buyers are looking for.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You need to enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)

Me and my brother own a semi-detached Victorian house in Chorley. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Virgin Money. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You should assess 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 Chorley and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.

I am purchasing a new build house in Chorley with a mortgage from Yorkshire Building Society. The developers would not budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative advised me not inform my conveyancer about the side-deal as it would jeopardize my loan with Yorkshire Building Society. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.

My father has suggested that I instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Chorley. Should I choose my own conveyancer?

No doubt the best way to select a conveyancing practitioner is to get guidance from friends or family who have actually previously instructed the solicitor you're considering.