I am progressing with the sale of my home in Walworth and the estate agent has just called to warn that the buyers are swapping law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only deal with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Walworth ?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for over 25 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 monitor. No lender will say 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. Plenty of firms 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.
Can your site be used to recommend a Conveyancing solicitor in Walworth even where I’m not buying or disposing of a house, for example where I want to acquire a shop in Walworth with a loan from Leeds Building Society?
The service is primarily there to find domestic conveyancing solicitors in Walworth but we have set out at the end of this page a few Walworth commercial conveyancing firms. You will need to speak with the solicitors directly to check if they are also authorised to represent Leeds Building Society
I am selling my home in Walworth. Does my conveyancing practitioner have to be on the UBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the UBS 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 currently.
Do commercial conveyancing searches disclose impending roadworks that may impact a commercial site in Walworth?
Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in Walworth will perform a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers expend in researching accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Walworth. The search result sets out definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Walworth.
For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Walworth it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately can cause delays to Walworth commercial conveyancing deals as well as pose a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not carried out for residential conveyancing in Walworth.
I used Stirling Law several years past for my conveyancing in Walworth. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate 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 Walworth of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
We're new on the property ladder - agreed a price, yet the property agent told us that the owners will only issue a contract if we instruct their preferred conveyancers as they want a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a local solicitor used to conveyancing in Walworth
It is unlikely the sellers are behind this. If they desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a motivated purchaser is counter productive. Speak to the vendors direct and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to go, with mortgage lined up © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you are going to use your preferred Walworth conveyancing lawyers - as opposed tothose that will earn the estate agent a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing targets demanded by senior management.