Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Fetcham. My lender is Accord Mortgages
Accord Mortgages have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 29/11/2025, the requirements read as follows :
Is there a list of UBS panel solicitors in Fetcham on the Building Society Association’s Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such directory service on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association sites. A small selection of lending institutions make their panel listings visible over the internet. If you are seeking to appoint a Fetcham property lawyer on the UBS please make the most of our facility.
is it true that all Fetcham solicitors on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Leeds Building Society approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Some mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I have paid off my mortgage with Santander. I assume I don't need a Fetcham lawyer on the Santander panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Santander mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Santander mortgage from the register. Santander, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Santander has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Santander has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I'm buying a new build house in Fetcham benefiting from help to buy. The developers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my lawyer about this extras as it will jeopardize my mortgage with Clydesdale. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
Should I go with a Fetcham conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am buying? I have an old university friend who can conduct the conveyancing but her office is approximately 350miles drive away.
The primary upside of using a high street Fetcham conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to sign paperwork, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local insight which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and the majority were content that should outweigh using an unknown Fetcham conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being round the corner.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Fetcham from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fetcham can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers. If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Fetcham conveyancing transaction. Where a new share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity. If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Fetcham leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Should you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor first. Some Fetcham leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
Fetcham Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing
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For most Fetcham leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be incorporated into the maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Fetcham obliged leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major works. Many Fetcham leasehold flats will incur a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the management company. Where you acquire the flat you will have to meet this liability, normally periodically throughout the year. This could differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. In all probability there will be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a large sum, say around £25-£75 but you should to check as sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants have being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.
The estate agent has recommended their conveyancing practitioner for my conveyancing in Fetcham - won’t it be advisable to just use them?
You need to establish if the estate agent is recommending a conveyancer or introducing to a property lawyer. There are plenty of Fetcham selling agents who recommend two or three Fetcham conveyancing firms and get nothing from it.