Me and my fiance are purchasing a 1 bedroom flat in Killay with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Killay solicitor, however the mortgage company advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel solicitors or keep our Killay conveyancing practitioner and pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Killay conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My husband and I are only a couple days away from an exchange on a house in Killay and my mum and dad have sent the 10% deposit to my property lawyer. I am now told that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my conveyancing practitioner needs to disclose this to my bank. Apparently, in also acting for the lender he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I advised the bank about my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really necessary for him to raise this?

The conveyancing practitioner is legally required to check with mortgage company to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only notify this to your mortgage company if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

As someone unfamiliar with the Killay conveyancing process what is the number one tip you can give me for the house moving process in Killay

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Killay and elsewhere in England and Wales is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of room for confrontation between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. For example, the seller, estate agent and sometimes your bank. Appointing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Killay should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the process whose responsibility is to protect your best interests and to protect you.

We are witnessing a definite ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be blamed for the process being so protracted. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal assignment of property.

We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Killay for our house move. Our broker informed us that our mortgage company Santander won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?

Pre- 2008 most lenders had a different appetite for risk. Almost all Killay conveyancing firms would have been on most mortgage company panels. The financial services regulator in 2010 completed a thematic investigation into mortgage fraud which concluded: mortgage lenders should know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, lenders are increasingly seeing more data from law firms concerning their operations and their employees as well as set certain criteria such a completing on a minimum amount of conveyancing. Many Killay conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have Unblemished track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Killay is one of the numerous areas where the lawyers we list are members of the panel for Santander.

I need to find a conveyancing solicitor for residential conveyancing in Killay. I have land on a site which seems to have the ideal offering If there is a chance to get all formalities completed via web that would be preferable. Do I need to be wary? What are the potential pitfalls?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?