I am progressing with the sale of my apartment in Swinton and the EA has just text me to advise that the purchasers are switching law firm. The reason given is that the bank will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only deal with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Swinton ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.

Lenders attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

Can conveyancing in Swinton to be concluded in less than a month?

First, If the seller is applying time constraints for your conveyancing it is advisable to make sure that your conveyancer is familiar with the area as they will have local connections and intelligence. It is even conceivable that they would have handled otherproperties in the same road. Therefore consider using a Swinton conveyancing solicitor. In addition, double check that the lawyer is on the on the approved list for your mortgage company. It is estimated that nearly one in five of Swinton conveyancing transactions are held up or jeopardised after discovering a buyer’s lawyer was not on their banks list of approved solicitors. In many cases this discovery resulted in the legal process being frustrated by an average of three weeks. It is estimated that this issue affects approximately one hundred thousand home sales every year. Almost all Swinton conveyancing practices can not act for certain mortgage companies so do check as early as possible.

A friend advised me that where I am purchasing in Swinton I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Swinton conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Swinton around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Swinton.

I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for leasehold conveyancing in Swinton. I have chance upon a web site which looks to be the ideal answer If it is possible to get all formalities completed via web that would be preferable. Should I be wary? What are the potential pitfalls?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?

My husband and I are first time buyers just having agreed a price on a property in Swinton, and are about to get solicitors lined up. We have made use of the different rating based websites and the results are from all across the England and Wales. Is it critical to have a Swinton conveyancing practitioner local to the prospective new home? I am willing to do everything over the internet, but I assume at some point we may need to visit the conveyancing practitioner's office to sign papers?

The conveyancer does not have to be in Swinton, but choosing local means that you can go in if required, for instance, if a signature is immediately necessary. Furthermore, a Swinton solicitor have established relationships with local agents and (if the vendor has instructed a local solicitor) with them, which will help smooth the process.