I am nearing exchange of contracts for my ground floor flat in Ponthir and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are switching property lawyer. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a big named mortgage company only engage with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Ponthir ?

Banks have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in recent years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.

Lending institutions attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

My husband and I swapping mortgage lender for our flat in Ponthir with Nottingham. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Nottingham conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Nottingham conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Nottingham. This is solely used to protect Nottingham if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Nottingham had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

Will my conveyancer be making enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Ponthir.

Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers dealing with homes in Ponthir. Some people will purchase a house in Ponthir, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or dispose of the property. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.

Lawyers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a number of checks that may be carried out by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which can figure out the risks in Ponthir. The standard completed inquiry forms sent to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard inquiry of the seller to discover whether the property has ever been flooded. In the event that the premises has been flooded in past which is not revealed by the owner, then a purchaser could issue a compensation claim as a result of such an inaccurate reply. The buyer’s conveyancers will also order an environmental report. This will indicate if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be conducted.

four months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Ponthir concluded. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

Are there any apps to help locate a Ponthir solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am willing to travel upto 10miles to meet the lawyer.

Feel free to make use of the tool on this website. Please select a bank and your location and you will see a number of Ponthir conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have listed some Ponthir conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can contact them to see whether they are on the Barclays panel