I am six weeks into the sale of my flat in Southwick and the estate agent has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. The excuse is that the bank will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a leading lender only work with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Southwick ?

Banks 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 Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for over 25 years.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

Can your site be used to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Southwick even where I’m not purchasing or selling a house, for instance where I wish to buy a shop in Southwick with a mortgage from Halifax?

Our search tool is predominantly there to locate domestic conveyancing solicitors in Southwick but we have set out towards the bottom of this page a few Southwick commercial conveyancing firms. You will need to enquire with the company directly to see if they are also authorised to represent Halifax

We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Aldermore as we wish to carry out improvements to our home in Southwick. Do we need to appoint a high street Southwick solicitor on the Aldermore conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

Aldermore do not ordinarily instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Aldermore conveyancing panel.

Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Nottingham. Southwick conveyancing lawyers are selected. How long does it take for Nottingham to issue the offer to the property lawyer?

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

I currently have a mortgage with Lloyds for my property in Southwick. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Lloyds?

Lloyds must be informed of your intention before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Lloyds’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Lloyds 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 Lloyds directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Lloyds conveyancing panel solicitor.

About to purchase a new build flat in Southwick. 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 are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Southwick

Please supply a car parking plan. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company?

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one near me in Southwick I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Southwick in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?

If you require a mortgage that many years may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.