My partner and I are looking to acquire a property in Hanley and have appointed a Hanley conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. The Mortgage Works have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Hanley lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Hanley solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Hanley? Why is this being asked of me?
To satisfy the Money Laundering Regulations any Hanley conveyancing firm will require proof of identity in all conveyancing transactions. This is usually dealt with by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility account evidencing your correct address.
In accordance with Money Laundering Regulations, conveyancers are obliged by law to validate not simply the identity of conveyancing clients but also the origin of monies that they receive in respect of any matter. An unwillingness to disclose this will lead to your conveyancer cancelling their retainer with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.
Your conveyancers are duty bound to make a disclosure to the appropriate authorities should they believe that any monies received by them may contravene the Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules.
I am about to put an offer on a leasehold property in Hanley. The estate agents tell me that it is usual for flats in Hanley to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am obtaining a loan with Virgin. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has 72 years left.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are getting a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Virgin have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 6/10/2025 the requirements read as follows :
I am buying a property and the conveyancer has identified Chancel Repair for which the property may be obligated to contribute to because it falls into the area of such a church. He has recommended insurance. Is this really necessary for conveyancing in Hanley
Unless a previous purchase of the house completed post 12 October 2013 you could expect solicitors conducting conveyancing in Hanley to remain encouraging a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
I got the keys to my flat on 1 February and my personal details is yet to be registered. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Hanley said it would be dealt with in a couple of weeks. Are titles in Hanley uniquely lengthy to register?
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Hanley registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timescales can adjust according to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry have to notify any interested persons or bodies. Currently roughly 80% of submission are fully dealt with within two weeks but occasionally there can be protracted hold-ups. Historically registration occurs after the buyer has moved in to the property thus post completion formalities is not typically primary concern yet if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your lawyers can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Hanley with a mortgage from Britannia. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my conveyancer about this side-deal as it would put at risk my mortgage with Britannia. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.