My wife and I are looking to buy a home in Banstead and have appointed a Banstead conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. National Westminster Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Banstead conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Banstead solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Can you point me to a directory of UBS panel conveyancers in Banstead on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such facility on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association sites. A small selection of mortgage companies make their panel listings visible online. Where you are looking for a Banstead conveyancer on the UBS please make the most of our tool.
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in October 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Coventry BS are being a right pain. The Banstead solicitor who is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Coventry BS are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Coventry BS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Coventry BS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Coventry BS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
My offer was accepted on a property in Banstead on 4/12/2025, valuation was booked 4 days later, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer appointed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Virgin Money and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Virgin Money to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Will my lawyer be raising enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Banstead.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers carrying out conveyancing in Banstead. Some people will buy a property in Banstead, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Solicitors are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a number of searches that can be undertaken by the buyer or by their lawyers which will figure out the risks in Banstead. The standard information given to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard question of the vendor to discover whether the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that the property has been flooded in past and is not disclosed by the owner, then a buyer may issue a legal claim for losses stemming from an inaccurate response. The purchaser’s conveyancers may also commission an enviro report. This will disclose if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries will need to be carried out.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Banstead?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Banstead. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
My uncle has encouraged me to use his lawyers for conveyancing in Banstead. Should I choose my own conveyancer?
No doubt the ideal way to choose a conveyancing practitioner is to seek feedback from friends or relatives who have actually used the conveyancer you're considering.
I am an executor of my recently deceased parent's Will, with a house in Banstead which is to be sold. The property has never been registered at the Land Registry and I'm advised that many estate agents will insist that it is done before they will proceed. What's the mechanism for this?
In the situation that you have set out it seems advisable to seek to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. HMLR’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and official copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.