My wife and I are hoping to buy a flat in Buckingham and are in fact using a Buckingham conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Leeds Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Buckingham conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Buckingham solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My wife and I are refinancing our flat in Buckingham with Santander. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Santander conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Santander had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Buckingham. My lender is Chelsea Building Society
Chelsea Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 28/7/2026, the requirements read as follows :
I am purchasing a victorian detached house in Buckingham. We would like to an extension at the rear at the property.Will the conveyancing process include checks to see if these works are allowed?
Your property lawyer will check the registered title as conveyancing in Buckingham can on occasion reveal restrictions in the title deeds which restrict categories of works or need the permission of a 3rd party. Many additions need local authority planning consent and approval in accordance building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. It would be sensible to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
is it true that all Buckingham solicitor practices on the Aldermore conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many mortgage companies do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be overseen by the CLC.
My wife and I have arranged the release of further funds on our mortgage from Bank of Ireland as we want to conduct alterations to our home in Buckingham. Are we obliged to appoint a nearby Buckingham solicitor on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Bank of Ireland don't usually instruct firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Bank of Ireland list.
What will a local search tell me regarding the house my wife and I purchasing in Buckingham?
Buckingham conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for instance Xpress Legal The local search is essential in every Buckingham conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject sections.
I was recommended by a few estate agents in Buckingham to find a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to promote your lawyers over another?
We don’t offer any commission for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.