I am progressing with the sale of my home in St Nicholas and the estate agent has just called to say that the purchasers are swapping conveyancer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading lender only deal with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in St Nicholas ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for many years.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. 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 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. The buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in St Nicholas. My lender is Nationwide Building Society
Nationwide Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 23/5/2025, the requirements read as follows :
It has been 2 months since my purchase conveyancing in St Nicholas completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. St Nicholas is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can impart?
Flying freeholds in St Nicholas are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside St Nicholas you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St Nicholas 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 thinking of appointing a conveyancing practitioner in St Nicholas for my sale. Is it possible to review a solicitor's record with the legal regulator?
Anyone can read published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from investigations from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. For 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 non-uk callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator may monitor telephone calls for training purposes.
We have been advised by many friends to expect six to eight weeks for St Nicholas conveyancing to complete.This was four weeks ago. The property information was only received from the vendors lawyer a couple of days ago so does the clock start running now?
One should take with some degree of scepticism any assurance as to expedited completion times. Instead ask the average timeframe to complete St Nicholas conveyancing transactions and whether they are happy to work towards an agreed target date for your conveyancing in St Nicholas