I am selling my flat in Gipsy Hill and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the buyers are appointing a new property lawyer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Gipsy Hill ?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Nationwide, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
The sellers of the home we are hoping to buy have appointed a conveyancing practitioner in Gipsy Hill who has recommended a exclusivity contract with a payment 10k. Are such agreements sensible?
This kind of agreement is unusual in Gipsy Hill, conveyancers are not keen on them as they divert attention from the main conveyancing focus and if you end up losing your deposit then the solicitor is left exposed. Secondly, there is no guarantee that just because the proprietor has signed an exclusivity contract they will sell to you. They may be motivated to break the agreement if they receive a large enough incentive to do so because an aggrieved buyer with the benefit of a lockoutcontract will still be obliged establish consequential losses from the breach and these may not equalise the financial upside that your seller may secure by breaking the agreement, however morally reprehensible the behaviour is.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my home in Gipsy Hill. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been instructed on the sale but I can't track down my title deeds. Will this cause complications?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be with your lender or they could be in the possession of the solicitor who acted in the purchase. Secondly the chances are that the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors procuring up to date copy of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Gipsy Hill relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your home is unregistered it is more of a problem but is not insurmountable.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Gipsy Hill. My lender is The Mortgage Works
The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 28/7/2026, the requirements read as follows :
There are numerous conveyancing solicitors in Gipsy Hill but how do I know who's good?
We would encourage you not to go for the cheapest Gipsy Hill 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 ahead of time.
When it comes to lenders such as UBS, do Gipsy Hill lawyers face a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to register on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Gipsy Hill. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £175. A couple of days later, the conveyancing practitioner called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Coventry BS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Am I better off to instruct a Gipsy Hill conveyancing practitioner based in the area that I am purchasing? We have a good friend who can handle the legal formalities but his firm is located 400kilometers away.
The primary upside of using a high street Gipsy Hill conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, hand in your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local knowledge which is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and they were happy that must outweigh using an unfamiliar Gipsy Hill conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being round the corner.