I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in Resolven and the estate agent has just called to say that the purchasers are appointing a new property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only engage with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Resolven ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.

Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to reveal 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.

We hope to to buy with Melton Mowbray Building Society. I called into 3 or 4 local companies but cant to find a Resolven conveyancing firm on the Melton Mowbray Building Society approved list. Could you assist?

Feel free to take advantage of the search tool on this page. Please choose the lender and type Resolven or your location and you will discover a number of lawyer located in Resolven or by proximity to you.

I acquired my apartment on 13 October and the transaction details is yet to be on the land registry website. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Resolven expressed confidence that it should be formalised in less than a month. Are titles in Resolven particularly slow to register?

As far as conveyancing in Resolven is concerned, registration is no quicker or slower than the rest of England and Wales. Rather than based on location, timescales can vary according to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any third parties. As of today roughly 80% of such applications are fully addressed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be protracted delays. Historically registration takes place after the new owner is living at the premises so 'speed' is not typically an essential issue but if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and found one round the corner in Resolven I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Resolven suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.

My sister completed her conveyancing in Resolven 7 years ago. She has since got married, widowed and is now married again. She wishes to market the house in a couple of months. I suspect that she will just be need to supply copies of the marriage papers to the property lawyer but she is anxious it will delay the conveyancing. Should she appoint a conveyancer to update the Land Registry details for the house?

You are not required to bring up to date the title for the property on the basis that you have the proof needed to show how the name change resulted.

The purchaser’s solicitor should check the land registry details and require evidence to establish the name change e.g. marriage certificates.