My wife and I are looking to acquire a flat in Langley and have instructed a Langley conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. HSBC Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Langley conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Langley lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

Completed the sale of my flat in Langley last November yet the purchaser is whats apping daily to moan that his lawyer is waiting to hear from mine. What should have happened following completion?

After completion of your disposal your lawyer should forward the transfer documentation and all of the paperwork to the purchaser's lawyers. Depending on the transaction, your conveyancer should also send confirmation that the mortgage has been repaid to the buyers lawyers. There is unlikely to be post completion requirements unique to conveyancing in Langley.

What is the difference between a licensed conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor in Langley

There are many recorded licenced Conveyancers in Langley and Solicitor practices in Langley who can assist with your conveyancing We would stress that the two are regulated professionals specialising in the legal work in the home buying process. Both can handle associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, enfranchisement and transfer of equity conveyancing.

We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Barclays. Langley conveyancing practitioners were selected. How long does it take for Barclays to send the offer to the conveyancing practitioner?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have Barclays completed the valuation? Have you informed Barclays as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Barclays conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Langley solicitor - who is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Coventry BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Coventry BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Langley surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I'm buying a new build house in Langley with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent suggested that I not to tell my solicitor about the extras as it may jeopardize my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.

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 for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Langley I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Langley suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?

If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.