I went with a local lawyer for our conveyancing in Brimsdown today. Reviewing the terms of engagement it is apparent thatwe are on the hook for charges even if the movedoes not proceed. Should I ditch them and select a web based conveyancing company offering no completion no charge conveyancing in Brimsdown?

It is usually a trade off in that if "No Completion No Fee" is advertised then the conveyancing charges will generally be more expensive to cover those conveyances that do not proceed. You should be mindful that such offerings generally do not protect you from outlay e.g. Brimsdown conveyancing search charges.

Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with TSB. Brimsdown conveyancing lawyers were chosen. How long does it take for TSB to send the offer to the solicitor?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have TSB done the valuation? Have you informed TSB as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the TSB conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.

I can not work out if my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called my Brimsdown bank branch on a couple of occasions and was reassured it wasn't an issue and they would lend. My Brimsdown conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they refuse to lend based on their specific requirements. I simply don't know who is right.

As long as the conveyancing practitioner is on the lender approved list, they must follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.

After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Brimsdown. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £200. Soon after, the solicitor called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the HSBC 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 HSBC 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 have been told that property searches are the number one reason for delay in Brimsdown conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Brimsdown.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our home are lost. The solicitors who did the conveyancing in Brimsdown 10 years ago have long since closed. What are my next steps?

As long as you have a registered title the details of your proprietorship will be evidenced by HMLR with a Title Number. It is easy to perform a search at the Land Registry, locate your house and obtain current copies of the property title for a small fee. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases retain a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for twenty pounds.

I have been told by many estate agents that it may take 6-8 weeks for Brimsdown conveyancing to complete.This was a month ago. The paperwork was only forwarded to my conveyancer yesterday so now does it countdown?

You should be pragmatic about timescales. Conveyancing in Brimsdown takes on average about two months. This time period is not due to conveyancing practitioner being slow and deliberately delay matters. The amount of money involved in buying any property is so high, the purchaser's property lawyer having to raise a whole range of questions, searches and supplemental checks to protect the purchaser and their mortgage company (if there is to be a home loan) from expensive, avoidable problems. Conveyancing in Brimsdown involves getting information from various different parties, including other solicitor, local councils, private companies, lenders. Many of these are well organised. Others are not. It is worth noting that, no matter how quickly your conveyancing practitioner do their job, if the people you are buying from or are selling to aren't ready, nothing can go ahead until they are.