My wife and I are hoping to acquire a property in Seaton Sluice and have appointed a Seaton Sluice conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Birmingham Midshires have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Seaton Sluice conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 solicitor 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Seaton Sluice solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Completed the sale of my flat in Seaton Sluice last February yet the purchaser is texting daily complaining that his conveyancer needs to hear from mine. What should have happened following completion?

Following your sale your solicitor is committed to forward the transfer deeds and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. Depending on the transaction, your lawyer must also confirm that the mortgage has been repaid to the purchasers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion steps unique to conveyancing in Seaton Sluice.

We previously chose conveyancing lawyers located in Seaton Sluice on the Barclays solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further fee for dealing with the Barclays mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Barclays?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your solicitor is entitled to charge a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by Barclays but by your Seaton Sluice conveyancer. Some firms on the Barclays panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

I am due to exchange contracts on my house. I had a double glazing fitted in November 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Yorkshire BS are being pedantic. The Seaton Sluice solicitor who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Yorkshire BS are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Yorkshire BS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Yorkshire BS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Yorkshire BS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Seaton Sluice solicitor - who is on the Santander conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander 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. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Seaton Sluice postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Seaton Sluice.

Various web forums that I have visited warn that are the number one reason for delay in Seaton Sluice conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Seaton Sluice.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Seaton Sluice conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Seaton Sluice conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Seaton Sluice conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions might be of use:

What volume of lease extensions has the firm carried out in Seaton Sluice in the last twenty four months? If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Seaton Sluice Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the block? Its a good idea to discover as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they can either make life much simpler or uncomfortable. Being a leasehold owner you are often at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day matters like the tidiness of the common parts. You should not be shy to ask prospective neighbours what they think of their management. In conclusion, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and precisely what it includes.