Me and my fiance are buying a 1 bedroom flat in Common Edge with a mortgage. We like our Common Edge conveyancer, however the lender says she’s not on their "panel". It seems we have no choice but to instruct one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or keep our Common Edge property lawyer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. This feels very unfair; can we not demand that the bank use our Common Edge property lawyer ?
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 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 Common Edge conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Can your site be used to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Common Edge even if I’m not purchasing or disposing of a house, for example if I wish to acquire a shop in Common Edge with a mortgage from Chelsea Building Society?
The service is predominantly there to select residential conveyancing solicitors in Common Edge but we have listed at the bottom of this page a selection of Common Edge commercial conveyancing firms. You should make contact with the solicitors directly to establish if they can also act for Chelsea Building Society
I am buying a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Common Edge who is on the Yorkshire Building Society approved. Can you recommend a local firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Yorkshire Building Society in certain locations such as Common Edge. We dont recommend any particular firm.
A colleague recommended that if I am buying in Common Edge I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Common Edge conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Common Edge around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Common Edge Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Common Edge.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Common Edge. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing 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 Common Edge of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
To what extent are Common Edge conveyancing solicitors under an obligation to the Law Society to supply transparent conveyancing figures?
Inbuilt into the Solicitors Code of Conduct are set rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their fees to clients.The Law Society have practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not to be regarded as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, nevertheless, constitute the Law Society’s perspective of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in Common Edge or beyond.