We have agreed to purchase a house in Winterbourne. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. HSBC have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As you are obtaining a mortgage with HSBC your lawyer must comply with the formal requirements contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for HSBC. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to HSBC where a lease fails to meet these conditions. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to Winterbourne.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Winterbourne. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How do I make a complaint?

All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.

After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Winterbourne. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £225. Soon after, the conveyancing practitioner called me to say that they were not on the Lloyds 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 Lloyds 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.

I am close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our property in Winterbourne and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. Any high street Winterbourne lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used an online conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Winterbourne. We have lived in Winterbourne for 4 years we know that this is a non issue. Should we contact our local Authority to get clarification that the buyers are looking for.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must check with 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 life insurance to cover that same sickness)

I am buying a new build house in Winterbourne with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about this extras as it would jeopardize my loan with the lender. 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Winterbourne conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Winterbourne conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggest that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Winterbourne conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. The following questions might be useful:

What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing? If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

I purchased a leasehold flat in Winterbourne, conveyancing having been completed March 2005. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Winterbourne with over 90 years remaining are worth £176,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2105

With 80 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

My partner and I are buying a 2 bedroom flat in Winterbourne. When we first instructed solicitor, we were told they were on all major UK lender panels. The mortgage broker called just now to say that they don't seem to be on the Nottingham approved list. Should that be true, what should we do? Do we simply find a different conveyancer that is on their approved list or should we pay for dual representation, with Nottingham selecting their own preferred lawyer.

If you are acquiring a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the buyer’s lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a conveyancer has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the solicitor to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the solicitor has to meet. Some banks now insist their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your conveyancing practitioner should contact Nottingham to find out if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on Nottingham's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Winterbourne lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.