I am in the process of selling my maisonette in Chirk and the EA has just telephoned to say that the buyers are appointing a new solicitor. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a big named lender only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Chirk ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for over 25 years.
Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. 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. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
It is a dozen years since I acquired my home in Chirk. Conveyancing lawyers have just been retained on the sale but I am unable to locate my deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
You need not be too concerned. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be with your lender or they may stored with the solicitor who acted in the purchase. Secondly the chances are that the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Chirk involves registered property but in the rare situation where your home is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
My home in Chirk is up for sale and I have a buyer. Will the conveyancer need to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Bank of Ireland 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 specifications fairly frequently at the moment.
I currently have a mortgage with Yorkshire BS for my property in Chirk. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Yorkshire BS?
You must advise Yorkshire BS prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Yorkshire BS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Yorkshire BS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel solicitor.
I can not work out if my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Chirk bank branch on numerous occasions and was told it wasn't an issue and they would lend. My Chirk conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they would not lend in accordance with their published requirements. I simply don't know who is right.
The property lawyer has to follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook Part 2 provisions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Chirk. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Shortly after, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the HSBC panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
We are downsizing from our house in Chirk and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. Any local conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers are using a national conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Chirk. Having lived in Chirk for 4 years we know that this is a non issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to get confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor already. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)
I today discovered that one of the partners of the solicitors handling the purchase conveyancing in Chirk is is the brother of the owners that we are purchasing from. Is this permitted?
As long as there is no conflict of interest this should be fine. If you are needing a mortgage then the bank may have a say as many lenders have specific instructions concerning this. For example for RBS (One Account) as of 16/1/2026, the requirements read as follows :