My fiance and I are planning to purchase a house in Watchet and have instructed a Watchet conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Lloyds TSB Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Watchet solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 mortgage company 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Watchet solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

We are buying a flat and require a conveyancing solicitor in Watchet who is on the Nottingham solicitor panel. Can you recommend a local firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Nottingham . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Watchet.

I used Stirling Law several years past for my conveyancing in Watchet. Now, I need the files but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate 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 Watchet 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.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build apartment in Watchet. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.

Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Watchet

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. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please supply a car parking plan. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared.

My plan is to acquire a garden maisonette in Watchet. Conveyancing lawyer has been waiting for, from the vendor, building insurance schedule. This afternoon I was informed that the seller needs to send the insurance schedule for the flat above as well. Why would my property lawyer want to see the insurance for the other flat? Is it really required? We have been stalled for the last month…

It is not unheard of in leasehold conveyancing in Watchet to find Conveyancing in Watchet in a minority of cases reveals that the lease requires the leasehold owners to insure their individual flats as opposed to the landlord insuring the entire block - which is clearly preferable. You should check with your lawyer but it would seem that your conveyancing practitioner is looking to verify that the complete building is insured. Insuring your flat is no help when it comes to rebuilding after a fire if the other flat cannot be reinstated due to lack of insurance cover.