My fiance and I are looking to buy a home in St Helier and are in fact using a St Helier conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our St Helier lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Quality 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred St Helier lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

We were just about to sign contracts for a semi detached house in St Helier. We have hit a problem. Our loan offer with expires on but the sellers are putting forward a completion date of . Can one prolong the mortgage offer?

The person best placed to deal with your question is your solicitors who is in a position to calculate whether he or she is better off negotiating with the mortgage broker, vendor’s conveyancers, property agents or possibly all parties given the history of your house move to date.

Are the BSA intent on creating a search tool with a view to to identify law firms on the conveyancing panel for example in St Helier?

We have not been informed any intention on the part of the BSA to promote such a tool.

I note that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Am I compelled to have this when buying a property in St Helier? or I am told that there is a law dating back centuries that could mean that homeowners living in a parish church boundary may be liable to contribute towards maintenance towards the chancel within the church. Is this a legitimate concern for conveyancing in St Helier?

Unless a previous acquisition of the premises took place post 12 October 2013 you may expect conveyancing practitioners delivering conveyancing in St Helier to continue to suggest a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.

Our financial adviser has recommended their for my conveyancing in St Helier - Is it not simpler better to just instruct them?

This is not necessarily the case and you are entitled to opt for whichever you prefer for your St Helier home move. A suggested by an estate agent may not necessarily be the best , they may suggest their own conveyancing firm who are based far away. In this instance you may not have contact with your and due to the lack of continuity in the transaction, it may be difficult to obtain updates.