My Solicitor in Porthmadog is not on the Barnsley Building Society Conveyancing Panel. Is it possible for me to continue with my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Barnsley Building Society panel?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Porthmadog solicitors but Barnsley Building Society will need to retain a lawyer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the total legal charges and result in delays.
- Find a new solicitor to to deal with the purchase, not forgetting to check they are on the Barnsley Building Society panel
I am the only beneficiary of my late father’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Porthmadog. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in April. I want to move. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership will be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the house in April. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be impacted by that. many mortgage companies would take a pragmatic view as this clause is chiefly there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of property.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Principality. Porthmadog conveyancing solicitors were selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Principality?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Principality conducted the survey? Have you informed Principality as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Principality conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I had an offer accepted on a property in Porthmadog on 2/4/2026, valuation was booked 3 days after, all came back fine. Property lawyer instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Kent Reliance and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Are Kent Reliance entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Kent Reliance to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
My friend suggested that if I am buying in Porthmadog I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Porthmadog conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Porthmadog around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Porthmadog Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Porthmadog.
I have recentlybecome aware that Action Conveyancing have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Porthmadog for a purchase of a freehold house 18 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest method to see if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Porthmadog conveyancing specialists.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Porthmadog is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Porthmadog are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Porthmadog you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Porthmadog may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I am looking for a conveyancing solicitor in Porthmadog for my purchase. Is there any facility to see a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
One can review presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions arising from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find records about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes recorded telephone calls for training purposes.