My wife and I are purchasing a leasehold flat in Burslem. My Conveyancer is not on the mortgage company solicitor panel. Can I still use my Burslem conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the mortgage company list of approved lawyers?
Various options include
- Complete the purchase with your chosen Burslem property lawyer but your mortgage company will no doubt retain a conveyancing practitioner on their conveyancing panel. This will result in additional cost and probable interruption.
- Choose a fresh property lawyer to conduct the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the bank conveyancing panel.
- Convince your solicitor to do everything possible to get listed on the bank’s panel of solicitors
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Burslem. My lender is Platform
Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 15/11/2025, the requirements read as follows :
Me and my partner are purchasing a house in Burslem. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to send money into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
What is your number one tip for finding a conveyancing solicitor in Burslem
It would be unwise to be seduced by the cheapest Burslem conveyancing fees. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in advance.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Burslem. I have a mortgage agreed with HSBC. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with HSBC, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the HSBC conveyancing panel.
I am purchasing a new build house in Burslem with a mortgage from National Westminster Bank. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative told me not disclose to my solicitor about this side-deal as it may adversely affect my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Burslem I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Burslem suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
Myself and my wife have just had an offer accepted on a property and had meeting on Wednesday with Nationwide for the mortgage. They have informed us that when it comes to selecting a conveyancing practitioner that unless they are on their approved list of solicitors then we will have to pay out a further fee of £200. This is because they will then have to instruct a solicitor to act for them in addition to the one we choose to act on our behalf and we are liable for their costs. I have requested Nationwide to send me with a list so I can seek estimates only from their approved lawyers but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is there a list online?
You can enquire of Nationwide what their criteria for panel membership is for a conveyancer.Thereafter ask the property lawyer of your choice whether they meet the criteria and have they acted on mortgages for Nationwide historically. If the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with Nationwide. Another option is to use our search tool and we may be able to identify a lawyer in Burslem on the panel for Nationwide.