I am in the process of selling my ground floor flat in Cleator and the EA has just text me to advise that the buyers are changing their law firm. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major lender only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Cleator ?

UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.

Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise 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 unlikely to have any impact on this.

We're in Cleator, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Principality , and our solicitor is on the Principality conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no solicitor should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

I have todaybecome aware that Action Conveyancing have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Cleator for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 10 months ago. How can I check that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?

The easiest way to check if the property is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Cleator conveyancing specialists.

I am looking for a flat up to £235,500 and found one near me in Cleator I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Cleator suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.

I was advised by my lender that their approved solicitors operate no completion no fee basis for conveyancing in Cleator. I had a purchase fall through nevertheless the solicitors have invoiced for search fees! They are claiming that the fees are independent!

in promising "no sale no fee" Cleator conveyancing practices are waiving their fees for any work done. We should point out that this does not constitute an insurance scheme. Disbursements aren’t covered – where the property lawyer have to pay money out to independent parties, for instance Cleator local search fees