I am selling my flat in Tilbury and the EA has just e-mailed to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. The excuse is that the bank will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a big named mortgage company only deal with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Tilbury ?

Lenders 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 HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for 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 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. Your purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.

Some advice if I may. My Tilbury conveyancer is advising me that he has toorder Tilbury conveyancing searches resulting from the fact thatthe firm are on the Virgin Moneysolicitor panel. Is this really necessary?

You have limited options available to you. As you are taking a home loan with a mortgage company your conveyancer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your conveyancing practitioner would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook specifications . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Tilbury conveyancing searches.

I am selling our house in Tilbury and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers instructed an online conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Tilbury. Having lived in Tilbury for 4 years we know that this is a non issue. Should we contact our local Authority to obtain clarification that there is no issue.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)

I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Tilbury. I now require my papers however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Tilbury of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I'm purchasing my first flat in Tilbury with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The estate agent advised me not inform my conveyancer about this side-deal as it may affect my mortgage with Coventry Building Society. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.