I am progressing with the sale of my home in Colchester and the estate agent has just e-mailed to warn that the buyers are switching conveyancer. The excuse is that the bank will only work with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major mortgage company only engage with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Colchester ?

Banks have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.

Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some 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. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

Various web forums that I have frequented warn that are the number one reason for hinderance in Colchester house deals. Is this right?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to feature in any slowing down conveyancing in Colchester.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one near me in Colchester I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Colchester in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?

If you require a mortgage that many years will be problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.

Hoping to buy a property located in Colchester and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Colchester. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Colchester area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Colchester. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found

My step-father has encouraged me to appoint his lawyers for conveyancing in Colchester. Should I find my own property lawyer?

There are no two ways about it it’s preferable to select a conveyancing practitioner is to have recommendations from friends or family who have actually experience in using the conveyancer you're considering.