My husband and I are looking to acquire a flat in Lymm and are in fact using a Lymm conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Alliance & Leicester have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Lymm lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?

Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Lymm solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Will our lawyer be making enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Lymm.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors specialising in conveyancing in Lymm. Plenty of people will purchase a property in Lymm, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.

Solicitors are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that can be undertaken by the purchaser or by their solicitors which should figure out the risks in Lymm. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard inquiry of the vendor to find out if the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the property has been flooded in past and is not revealed by the vendor, then a purchaser may issue a claim for damages resulting from an inaccurate response. The purchaser’s solicitors may also commission an enviro search. This will higlight if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries will need to be carried out.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Lymm. Conveyancing is daunting 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 legal work.

Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Lymm

There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease.

I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for remortgage conveyancing in Lymm. I happened to stumble upon a site which appears to be the ideal solution If there is a chance to get all this stuff completed via phone that would be preferable. Do I need to be wary? What should out be looking out for?

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?

We are looking to purchase a repossessed house in Lymm and the bank selling demand completion inside a month. Can a conveyancing practitioner meet that timeframe? Am I best advised to select a high street Lymm firm or an online organisation that professes to offer speedy conveyancing?

Attend your Lymm shopping parade. Go in to 3 solicitor’s offices and ask to see a conveyancing solicitor for a quote. Explain your requirements and get assurances on speed. Select the one that comes across as most genuine. Be sure to choose a property lawyer on the list of solicitors who can act for your lender.