I am one month into the sale of my home in South Lambeth and the EA has just e-mailed to warn that the buyers are changing their solicitor. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading mortgage company only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in South Lambeth ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 25 years.

Banks blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to disclose 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.

Do banks and building societies provide you with an approved list of South Lambeth conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the TSB conveyancing panel?

South Lambeth conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the TSB conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from TSB directly.

I am the only recipient of my late mum's will and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in South Lambeth. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in July. I plan to dispose of the property. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership will be considered the same way as if I'd bought the house in July. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be affected by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the bank as this obligation primarily exists to identify subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of property.

It is not clear whether my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called my South Lambeth bank branch on various occasions and was told it wasn't an issue and they will lend. My South Lambeth conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they refuse to lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?

Provided that the solicitor is on the mortgage company approved list, she or he must adhere to the CML Handbook provisions for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in South Lambeth. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £225. Shortly after, the solicitor called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

A friend suggested that where I am buying in South Lambeth I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your South Lambeth conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about South Lambeth around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the South Lambeth Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, South Lambeth Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning South Lambeth.

How do I identify a South Lambeth solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the solicitor.

Feel free to make use of the tool on this website. Please select a lender and your location and you will see a number of South Lambeth conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have listed some South Lambeth conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can call them to check if they are on the Barclays panel