Me and my fiance are purchasing a 1 bedroom apartment in London with a mortgage. We like our London lawyer, however the bank says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or keep our London conveyancing practitioner as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to insist that the mortgage company use our London conveyancer ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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 London conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
I used Arc property Solicitors a few years past for my conveyancing in London. Now, I need the files but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down 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 London of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in London I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in London for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
Am I right to be suspicious about third parties that I am dealing with are suggesting an internet conveyancing firm rather than a local London conveyancing firm?
As with many professional services, often input from connections can be extremely useful or valuable. But there are many players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, financial adviser and banks may suggest solicitors to choose. On occasion the solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but sometimes there exists a commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You have the discretion to select your preferred lawyer. You need to be aware that the majority of mortgage providers specify a panel list of conveyancers you must use for the lender related work in your transaction.
We are a fortnight into a freehold purchase having been recommend to conveyancers by the selling agent to do our conveyancing in London. I am am starting to be frustrated with the level of service. Could you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?
They would need to be very bad to suggest diss instructing them. Has your mortgage offer been sent? If so you must make them aware of the new contact details and get the offer are re-sent. Your new solicitor ideally should be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid added fees and complications. That should be your first question of the new conveyancers. The search tool should assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your home move in London
My fiance and I yesterday discovered that one of the partners of the solicitors acting on the purchase conveyancing in London is an aunty of the seller. Is this allowed?
Provided no conflict arises this is allowable. Where you are requiring a mortgage then the lender may have a say as many lenders have specific instructions on this. For example for Yorkshire Building Society as of 26/4/2024, the requirements read as follows :
* there is no conflict of interest and none arises during the transaction
* the firm is a partnership
* the conveyancer acting is not the borrower or a member of the borrower's immediate family