I am nearing exchange of contracts for my maisonette in Edwinstowe and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are appointing a new property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the bank will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Edwinstowe ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the last few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Lenders attribute this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices 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.
My partner and I have arranged a further advance on our mortgage from Barclays as we want to carry out improvements to our home in Edwinstowe. Are we obliged to choose a local Edwinstowe solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Barclays would not normally require firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Barclays conveyancing panel.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Edwinstowe. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Not long after, the conveyancing practitioner called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Nottingham 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 Nottingham 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.
I had an offer accepted on a property in Edwinstowe on 3/1/2025, valuation was booked 4 days later, all came back fine. Property lawyer appointed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Coventry BS and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Are Coventry BS entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
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 Coventry BS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I used Wolstenholmes a few years ago for my conveyancing in Edwinstowe. Now, I need my files however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down 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 Edwinstowe of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
About to purchase a new build apartment in Edwinstowe. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Edwinstowe
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The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Please supply a car parking plan. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier?
My partner has encouraged me to instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Edwinstowe. Should I find my own property lawyer?
No doubt it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing practitioner is to have feedback from friends or family who have experience in using the conveyancer you're considering.
At long last our conveyancing in Edwinstowe is set to complete next Friday, yet the sellers I am purchasing off wishes to vacate the next day at at 2pm. Should I agree to this?
You can't complete on a Saturday because the bank systems are not working.