I am progressing with the sale of my home in Sandringham and the estate agent has just called to warn that the buyers are swapping law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading lender only work with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Sandringham ?

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

Mortgage companies justify this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms 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 buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.

The Sandringham conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my purchase in Sandringham have without warning shut down. I chose them because I had to have a firm on the Skipton conveyancing panel and my previous Sandringham lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What do I do now?

If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Skipton conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to help.

We are purchasing a flat in Sandringham. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? At some point we will need to put funds into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our money?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

A friend pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Sandringham there may be a number of restrictions prohibiting external alterations to the property. Is this right?

There are a number of properties in Sandringham which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Sandringham should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I had a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. Sandringham conveyancing practitioners have been selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Santander?

There is no definitive answer here. Have Santander completed the survey? Have you informed Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Sandringham?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Sandringham. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

About to purchase a new build apartment in Sandringham. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.

Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Sandringham

Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. 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.