Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my solicitor in Gospel Oak is not listed on my lender's conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the standard of his conveyancing?

That would most likely be a wrong assumption to make. There are plenty of plausible explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated that over three quarters of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) lack of transactions (2) the solicitor is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Should you be concerned you should simply call the Gospel Oak conveyancing practice and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your bank.

In the event thatI were to acquire a simple residential housein Gospel Oak mortgage fee and have no survey and no local authority searches how much could I expect to to save on my conveyancing in Gospel Oak?

Any savings you would achieve would be limited to the costs for searches. Your lawyer still be obliged to do everything else - money laundering, liaising with the vendors conveyancer, SDLT return, register the ownership etc. You might save a bit for them not having to register a charge however it won't be meaningful.

Can you clarify what the consequences are if my solicitor is removed from the Skipton Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Gospel Oak?

The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.

My partner and I are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our house in Gospel Oak and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. A local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a web based conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Gospel Oak. We have lived in Gospel Oak for six years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to obtain clarification that there is no issue.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer already. Are they able to advise? You should 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 health insurance to cover that same illness)

I'm buying a new build house in Gospel Oak with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative told me not disclose to my conveyancer about the deal as it will adversely affect my loan with Barnsley Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.