Me and my partner are buying a 2 bedroom apartment in Winchester with a mortgage. We have a Winchester conveyancer, however the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or continue with our Winchester conveyancer as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; are we not able to demand that the bank use our Winchester property lawyer ?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Winchester conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Can the conveyancing solicitors identified via your search tool carry out auction conveyancing in Winchester?
We know of a number of auction solicitors we can put you in touch with those specialising in auction conveyancing. Winchester is just one of our locations where our lawyers cover.
I can see plenty of here regarding conveyancing in Winchester but can you isolate your top tip for choosing the right conveyancer in Winchester
It would be unwise to be swayed by the cheapest Winchester conveyancing fees. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. 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.
I'm the only beneficiary of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Winchester. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in October. I plan to dispose of the property. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be treated the same way as if I'd bought the house in October. Do I have to wait 6 months to sell?
The CML handbook obliges 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 might be affected by that. many mortgage companies would take a sensible view as this requirement is chiefly there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of properties.
My offer was accepted on a house in Winchester on 26/9/2025, valuation was booked 4 days after, all came back fine. Solicitor instructed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Bank of Ireland and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Are Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
What will a local search tell me concerning the house we're purchasing in Winchester?
Winchester conveyancing often starts with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for example Searchflow The local search is essential in every Winchester conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your property. The search should provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic headings.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Winchester 10 years ago have long since closed. What are my next steps?
Assuming the title is registered the details of your ownership will be retained by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is easy to perform a search at the Land Registry, identify your property and obtain up to date copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for a small fee.
I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Winchester. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?
It best that you discharge the invoice as usual as all ground rent and maintenance invoices should be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
I purchased a 1 bedroom flat in Winchester, conveyancing having been completed in 1996. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Winchester with over 90 years remaining are worth £176,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2075
You have 50 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.