My fiance and I are planning to buy a property in Herne Hill and have instructed a Herne Hill conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Coventry Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Herne Hill solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Herne Hill lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Herne Hill. My lender is Virgin
Virgin have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 27/10/2026, the requirements read as follows :
What is the difference between a licensed conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor in Herne Hill
There are two types of lawyers who can perform conveyancing in Herne Hill namely CLC regulated conveyancers or solicitors. The two can provide the legal services that you need to complete the disposal or acquisition of property. They are both obliged to execute Herne Hill conveyancing to the same standards and guidelines so you can be safe in the knowledge that your conveyancing will be properly conducted and that all necessary steps should be correctly followed.
My husband and I have organised the release of further funds on our home loan from Co-operative as we want to conduct a loft conversion to our property in Herne Hill. Are we obliged to select a nearby Herne Hill solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Co-operative do not ordinarily instruct a member of their conveyancing panel 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 Co-operative panel.
Our sealed bid on a house in Herne Hill has been agreed to, the sellers do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The vendors have offered on on an apartment, but it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other flats booked. I have selected a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Herne Hill. What do I do now? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Coventry BS?
It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is approx £1k, then valuation, Herne Hill conveyancing search costs, etc). The first thing to do is check that your property lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. As to the subsequent stages this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market the majority of buyers will apply for a home loan with Coventry BS and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their conveyancing practitioner to proceed with searches.
My relative advised me that where I am buying in Herne Hill I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Herne Hill conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Herne Hill around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Herne Hill.
I opted to have a survey done on a property in Herne Hill ahead of instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies may not issue a loan on this type of premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements from Halifax. If you contact us we can check via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Herne Hill. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Herne Hill especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Herne Hill.
My step-father has recommend that I appoint his lawyers for conveyancing in Herne Hill. Should I choose my own conveyancer?
There are no two ways about it it’s preferable to select a conveyancing lawyer is to seek referrals from friends or relatives who have actually used the firm that you are considering.