Please help. My Pocklington lawyer is advising me that she is duty bound toconduct Pocklington conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the HSBCconveyancing panel. Is this really necessary?

You have limited options available to you. As you are obtaining a home loan with a bank your property lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your solicitor would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Pocklington conveyancing searches.

What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Pocklington? Is this really necessary?

Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identification documents of the potential client they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Terms of Engagement that you are required to sign will no doubt reaffirm this. Your lender will also require certain documents to be checked. Should you are unwilling to hand over identification documents, your lawyer would not be able to accept instructions from you.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Pocklington I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Pocklington for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage that many years will be an issue. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

Am I right to be suspicious by brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm rather than a local Pocklington conveyancing practice?

As with lots of professional services, often suggestions from connections can be extremely useful or valuable. But there are lots of people with a keen interest in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, financial adviser and banks may recommend conveyancers to select. Sometimes the conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there is an underlying financial incentive behind the endorsement. You are at liberty to select your own lawyer. Don't forget that most lenders operate an approved list of law firms you have to use for the mortgage aspect of your home move.

I have just started marketing my garden apartment in Pocklington.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have recently received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as normal given that all ground rent and maintenance charges should be allottedon completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process