My husband and I swapping mortgage lender for our maisonette in Eastleigh with Co-operative. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Co-operative conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Co-operative. This is solely used to protect Co-operative if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Co-operative had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
My husband and I wish to acquire a newly converted flat in Eastleigh with a loan from Halifax.We use our Eastleigh conveyancing solicitor but Halifax informed us she’s not listed on their "panel". we are left little option but to use a Halifax panel lawyer or retain our preferred solicitor and fork out for a Halifax panel lawyer to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Halifax use our lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The loan issued to you is subject to its various provisions, a common one being that solicitors must be on the Halifax conveyancing panel. in the past, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find 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. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Halifax
I am assisting my aunt sell her flat in Eastleigh. Will the solicitor order the EPC or it is for me to coordinate?
After the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates was kept a required part of moving property. An EPC needs to be commissioned in advance of the property being placed on the market. It is not as aspect of the sale process that solicitors ordinarily organise. Where you are using a Eastleigh conveyancing practitioner they may be willing to arrange energy assessments given their contacts with long established Eastleigh assessors
We have agreed to purchase a house in Eastleigh. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Virgin Money have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is Virgin Money your lawyer must check the conveyancing instructions set out in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Virgin Money. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook sets out minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to Virgin Money where a lease fails to satisfy these specifications. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Eastleigh.
My offer was accepted on an apartment in Eastleigh on 10/6/2025, valuation was booked 3 days later, received a clean bill of health. Property lawyer instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Aldermore and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Aldermore to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
What will a local search tell me about the property we're purchasing in Eastleigh?
Eastleigh conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for instance Searches UK The local search plays a central part in most Eastleigh conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable 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 areas.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Eastleigh is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Eastleigh are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Eastleigh you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Eastleigh 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 property.
Your search tool is useful but there are many lawyers listed near Eastleigh being on the bank conveyancing panel. Can you recommend a specific firm on the conveyancing panel for our mortgage company?
We do not recommend specific Eastleigh firms as the right Eastleigh conveyancing firm for you depends on where your priorities lie. For example you may require a local firm with Eastleigh knowledge or you might be looking for the low cost conveyancing. We recommend that you speak to 3 or 4 lawyers listed before you make your choice..