My husband and I are intending to buy a 3 bedroom apartment in City of Darlington with a mortgage. We like our City of Darlington conveyancer, however the bank advise he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have little choice but to instruct one of the mortgage company panel firms or continue with our City of Darlington solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We regard this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer 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 City of Darlington conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in City of Darlington. My lender is Chelsea Building Society
Chelsea Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 29/9/2025, the requirements read as follows :
My aunt pointed out to me me that in buying a property in City of Darlington there may be a number of restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to the property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in City of Darlington which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external variations. Part of the conveyancing in City of Darlington should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I am the sole recipient of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in City of Darlington. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in August. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in August. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be impacted by that. Most mortgage companies would take a pragmatic view as this obligation is primarily there to identify subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of property.
We are getting a further advance on our home loan from Virgin Money as we intend to carry out renovations to our house in City of Darlington. Do we need to choose a local City of Darlington solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Virgin Money don't usually require a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Virgin Money list.
I am buying a new build house in City of Darlington with a mortgage from Nationwide Building Society. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about the extras as it would jeopardize my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
My cousin has encouraged me to instruct his lawyers for conveyancing in City of Darlington. Should I choose my own solicitor?
Much as we are happy to recommend a City of Darlington conveyancing lawyer the best way to choose a conveyancing solicitor is to get referrals from friends or relatives who have actually previously instructed the conveyancer you're contemplating using.
My partner and I hope to acquire our first house in City of Darlington. Conveyancing practitioner has been appointed. The financial consultant pointed out that a survey is not needed as the property was only built in 2001.
You would be well advised to have a Home Buyer's Report. Given the residence is more than ten years old the property will not benefit from a warranty, so you would be well advised not to take a risk. For a property that age with no signs of problems a Home Buyer's report may suffice. They will highlight any obvious problems and suggest further investigation if appropriate. If there are any signs of material issues seek a full Building Survey from the beginning.