My husband and I are intending to buy a 1 bedroom apartment in Rutland with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Rutland lawyer, however the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have no option but to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or continue with our Rutland as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Rutland conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

In the event thatI was to acquire a straightforward housein Rutland for cash and have no survey and no conveyancing searches how much would I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Rutland?

The sole saving you would achieve is the disbursement for searches. Your is obliged to do the vast majority of work - money laundering, correspond with the vendors , stamp duty return, register the title etc. A slight saving might be made by not having to register a mortgage however it won't be significant.

We are buying a purpose built apartment in Rutland with a homeloan from .We like our Rutland conveyancing practitioner but says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint a panel lawyer or retain our local solicitor and fork out for a panel lawyer to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that use our lawyer?

No, not really. The home loan offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers needs to be on the approved list. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for

I have recentlybeen informed that Stirling Law have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Rutland for a purchase of a leasehold flat 9 months ago. How can I check that my home is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?

The easiest way to see if the premises is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Rutland conveyancing specialists.

Rutland Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

Who are the managing agents? Most Rutland leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for maintenance of the block levied by the freeholder. Where you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this charge, usually periodically throughout the year. This could vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a large amount, say around £50-£100 but you need to check it because sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds. Can you tell me if there are any major works anticipated that will add a premium to the service fees?