I am 3 weeks into the sale of my house in Harehills and the estate agent has just called to say that the buyers are swapping conveyancer. The reason given is that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major mortgage company only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Harehills ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened 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 says it is hearing daily from firms 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 unlikely to have any impact on this.
I am planning to move home in March. Will my conveyancing solicitor liaise with the removal company on the day of completion. On a separate note, can you suggest a removal company in Harehills. Conveyancing firm was found prior to coming across this website.
On the afternoon of completion you can pick up the house keys from your property agent but this should only happen once the vendors lawyers confirm to the agent that they acknowledge receipt of the completion payment and the keys can be released. Subsequently you should tell the removal men that you are ready to move in. We do not recommend a particular removal company but can help you choose a residential property solicitor in Harehills or a legal practice with expertise in conveyancing in Harehills.
We had chosen solicitors based in Harehills on the Skipton solicitor panel. They have just billed me a further fee for dealing with the Skipton mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Skipton?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your lawyer is entitled to levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Skipton but by your Harehills conveyancing practitioner. Numerous firms on the Skipton panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some practices include it on their overall fee.
My offer was accepted on a property in Harehills on 5/12/2025, valuation was booked 4 days after, received a clean bill of health. Property lawyer instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Nottingham and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Are Nottingham 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 Nottingham to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Harehills I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Harehills in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you require a home loan that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
I am a sole trader wishing to lease a unit on a shopping parade. Can you recommend solicitors offering fixed costs for commercial conveyancing in Harehills for under 2k?
We are happy to recommend firms who have well rounded knowledge of commercial conveyancing in Harehills, including the disposal and purchase of businesses as well as simply property. Whether you are intending to buy or dispose of a shop, pub, restaurant, office, retail unit or a whole business we will find you the right lawyer. As for the costs this will depend on the structure and nuances of the deal. Let us have your contact information or phone us so that we may supply you with a detailed commercial conveyancing quote.
My cousin has recommend that I use his conveyancing solicitors in Harehills. Should I use them?
No doubt it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing solicitor is to seek guidance from friends or relatives who have actually experience in using the firm you're are thinking of instructing.
A licensed conveyancer handled my conveyancing in Harehills half a dozen years ago and was holding my deeds but has now closed – What steps do I now take to retreive them?
Deeds, as such, no longer exist as the majority of properties in Harehills are archived digitally at Land Registry. Where you need to establish evidence of proprietorship or are selling or refinancing your conveyancer should obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned as quickly as possible.