I am one month into the sale of my home in Pudsey and the estate agent has just called to say that the buyers are swapping law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a big named mortgage company only work with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Pudsey ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that 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.
My flat in Pudsey is up for sale and I have a buyer. Does the lawyer need to be on the Santander conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Santander conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently in recent years.
I am assisting my step-mother sell her flat in Pudsey. Will the conveyancing solicitor arrange an energy performance certificate or should I organise this?
After the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates was kept a compulsory element of selling a property. An EPC should be to hand prior to the property being placed on the market. It is not something that solicitors normally arrange. If you are instructing a Pudsey conveyancing practitioner they might be willing to arrange energy assessments due to their contacts with long established local energy assessors
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Pudsey. Do I collect the keys to the house on completion from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Pudsey?
On the day of completion you do not need to attend the conveyancers office in Pudsey. Your solicitors will transfer the purchase money to the seller's lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to receive the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I had an offer accepted on a property in Pudsey on 25/4/2025, valuation was booked 3 days later, all came back fine. Property lawyer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Aldermore and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Aldermore to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I know that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I require chancel insurance when buying a property in Pudsey? or I am told that there is a law dating back centuries that means some owners of property living in a parish church boundary may be liable to contribute towards repairs towards the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this relevant for conveyancing in Pudsey?
Unless a previous purchase of the premises took place after 12 October 2013 you could assume that solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Pudsey to remain encouraging a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
Me and my brother have a renovated Georgian property in Pudsey. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Barclays . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. Is it worth asking Barclays to clarify?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Pudsey and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Pudsey is the location of the property. Can you offer any guidance?
Flying freeholds in Pudsey are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Pudsey you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Pudsey 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 property.