Me and my fiance are buying a 3 bedroom flat in Litherland with a mortgage. We like our Litherland conveyancer, but the bank advise he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little option but to use one of the mortgage company panel firms or keep our Litherland as well as pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to insist that the lender use our Litherland ?

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 lender’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. Another option that might be available is for your Litherland conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My lender has suggested a law firm on their panel based in Litherland but I would rather use a conveyancing lawyer in Litherland or nearer to where I live. Can you assist?

Not all Litherland conveyancing practitioners are approved and listed on all banks conveyancing panel. Please make the most of our search tool to locate a Litherland conveyancing solicitor on the on the mortgage company panel.

is it true that all Litherland conveyancing solicitors on the conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?

As solicitors, in order to be on the approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Many mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the practice would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

I currently have a mortgage with for my property in Litherland. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform ?

must be informed of your intention in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of ’s mortgage conditions. It may be that will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a conveyancing panel firm.

After shopping around on the internet I have found a Litherland having checked that they are on the conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually 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 Litherland 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.

A relative suggested that where I am buying in Litherland I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Litherland conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Litherland around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Litherland Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Litherland.

I am buying a new build flat in Litherland. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Litherland

There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please supply a car parking plan.