We are buying a 1 bedroom apartment in Shortlands with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Shortlands solicitor, but the lender advise he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have no choice but to appoint one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or retain our Shortlands as well as pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. We feel that this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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 Shortlands conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

The owners of the property we are hoping to buy have instructed a conveyancing practitioner in Shortlands who has suggested a exclusivity contract with a non-refundable deposit two thousand pounds. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?

Exclusivity contracts are agreements binding a property vendor and prospective buyer giving the buyer exclusive rights to the sale of the premises for a limited period of time. Essentially, an exclusivity agreement is a contract specifying that you will receive a contract at a later time being the main conveyancing contract. It tends to be used for buyer assurance though in some cases, the owner may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are various positives and negatives to using them but you should to check with your conveyancer but note that it may end up incurring extra in conveyancing fees. For these reasons these agreements are not popular in relation to conveyancing in Shortlands.

Do I select a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Shortlands?

There are two types of lawyers who can do conveyancing in Shortlands namely CLC regulated conveyancers or solicitors. The two can handle conveyancing services that you need to complete the sale or acquisition of property. They are both obliged to perform Shortlands conveyancing on similar quality and guidelines so you can be sure that your conveyancing will be properly carried out and that the necessary procedures will be suitably attended to.

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as FTB of a ground floor flat in Shortlands. Do I receive the keys to the house on completion from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in Shortlands?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the completion advance to the seller's conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be able to receive the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

I am purchasing a property in Shortlands. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As you are obtaining a mortgage with your lawyer must follow the conveyancing instructions set out in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for . The CML Handbook contains minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and are required to report to where a lease fails to comply with these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Shortlands.

My wife and I own a semi-detached Georgian property in Shortlands. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Shortlands and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.

I need to find a mortgage company panel solicitor in Shortlands. Can you assist?

Unfortunately it’s not apparent why you need a Shortlands panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to the lender to find out which solicitors in Shortlands are on their panel . If you do find such a firm in Shortlands not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site