My fiance and I are purchasing a maisonette in Streetly. My property lawyer is not on the lender approved panel. Can I still retain my Streetly conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the bank approved list?

Various options include

• Carry on with your preferred Streetly lawyer but your mortgage company will need to appoint a solicitor from their conveyancing panel. This will result in additional charges and probable delay.
• Get a fresh property lawyer to conduct the conveyancing, ensuring that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Convince your conveyancer to pull out all the stops to join the mortgage company panel of solicitors

I require conveyancing for an apartment in a relatively new development (seven years built) in Streetly. The vast majority the properties have already been sold. Is it really necessary to order local searches as part of conveyancing in Streetly?

You would be putting yourself at risk in failing carrying out Streetly conveyancing searches. Without searches you have no clarity over flooding, environmental etc which may mean you walk away due to potential problems down the line. If you are buying without a mortgage there is no legal necessity to have them, but we would absolutely advise in no uncertain terms that you have them. Where timings and expenses are primary issues you should consider with your solicitor about the options such as lack of search insurance available to you

Are the Streetly conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the HSBC conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by HSBC?

Streetly conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from HSBC directly.

Should our conveyancer be raising enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Streetly.

Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors specialising in conveyancing in Streetly. Plenty of people will buy a house in Streetly, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.

Solicitors are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that can be carried out by the purchaser or by their lawyers which can figure out the risks in Streetly. The conventional set of property information forms given to a buyer’s solicitor (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard inquiry of the owner to discover if the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the owner, then a buyer may issue a compensation claim as a result of such an incorrect reply. The buyer’s lawyers will also order an enviro search. This will indicate whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be conducted.

I used Action Conveyancing a few years ago for my conveyancing in Streetly. Now, I need the documents however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Streetly of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.