I am selling my flat in Farnham Royal and the EA has just text me to warn that the buyers are appointing a new property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major mortgage company only work with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Farnham Royal ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.
Mortgage companies justify this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to disclose 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 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. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
I am under pressure from the executor of a property in Farnham Royal to complete within four weeks. What can be done to speed up the legal process?
In the event that you are under pressure to exchange it is advisable to make sure that your lawyer is familiar with the location as they will have local relationships and intelligence. It is even conceivable that they may have handled previousproperties in the same road. You would be best advised to use a Farnham Royal conveyancing solicitor. In addition, make sure that the lawyer is on the on the approved list for your mortgage company. It is claimed that nearly one in five of Farnham Royal conveyancing transactions are frustrated or jeopardised after finding out that a purchaser’s lawyer was not on their banks panel. This can often result in the transaction being frustrated by almost three weeks. It is claimed that this issue affects approximately 100,000 home sales every year. Almost all Farnham Royal conveyancing practices can not represent certain mortgage companies so do check as early as possible.
We're in Farnham Royal, FTBs buying with a mortgage (lender is TSB , and our lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
My wife and I buying a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Farnham Royal. We would like to carry out a loft conversion at the house.Will legal due diligence on the property involve enquiries to determine if these works are allowed?
Your conveyancer should check the registered title as conveyancing in Farnham Royal can on occasion reveal restrictions in the title deeds which restrict certain works or require the permission of another owner. Certain extensions call for local authority planning permissions and approval in accordance building regulations. Certain areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. You should check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
My offer was accepted on a house in Farnham Royal on 28/8/2025, valuation was booked 4 days later, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer instructed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Yorkshire 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 Yorkshire BS 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 Yorkshire BS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Leeds Building Society have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a property in Farnham Royal has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
The property agent will want to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the lawyers are on the bank’s approved list). Contact Leeds Building Society or the financial adviser and complete any outstanding paperwork. Leeds Building Society will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or owners to arrange a time for the valuation to take place. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes on average a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Leeds Building Society will send the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Farnham Royal.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. Farnham Royal is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Farnham Royal are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Farnham Royal you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Farnham Royal may decide 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 residence.
The estate agent has suggested using their conveyancer for the conveyancing in Farnham Royal - Surely it’s better to just instruct them?
This is not necessarily the case and you are at liberty to instruct whichever lawyer of your choosing for your Farnham Royal home move. A solicitor suggested by a 3rd party adviser may not necessarily be the best conveyancing practitioner, they may recommend their preferred conveyancing firm who are based far away. In this instance you may not have contact with your conveyancer and due to the lack of continuity in the transaction, it may be difficult to obtain progress reports.