Me and my husband are purchasing property in Ogmore Vale. My Solicitor is not listed on the mortgage company approved panel. Is it possible for me to use my Ogmore Vale conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the bank panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?

Various options include

• Carry on with your existing Ogmore Vale conveyancing practitioner but your lender will need to use a lawyer on their conveyancing panel. This will result in additional fees together with potential interruption.
• Choose a new conveyancer to act in the purchase, making sure they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
• Convince your conveyancing practitioner to do everything within their powers to join the bank’s conveyancing panel

Our grandson is purchasing a new build apartment in Ogmore Vale with a home loan from Barclays. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?

The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Barclays conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Barclays conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Ogmore Vale?

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Ogmore Vale. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

We're novice buyers - agreed a price, yet the estate agent advised that the owners will only proceed if we instruct the agent's chosen solicitors as they are insisting on a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local solicitor accustomed to conveyancing in Ogmore Vale

We suspect that the seller is not behind this demand. If they desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Contact the vendors directly and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you are going to appoint your preferred Ogmore Vale conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will give their negotiator at the agency a referral fee or meet his conveyancing figures set by senior management.

My 20yr old son is about to join the property ladder, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. After the seller agreed the offer on the house we contacted the bank to progress the mortgage application. We were shocked to hear that banks do not accept all solicitor, they need to be on their approved list, is this right?

Lenders tend to restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing firms on their approved list of lawyers. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Ogmore Vale property lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Unlikely.