My husband and I are planning to acquire a house in Hyde and are in fact using a Hyde conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Godiva Mortgages Ltd have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Hyde lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is usual 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 solicitor 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 lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Hyde solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I have given 2 months notice to my current landlord and must be out of my rented property in Hyde by 21/10/2026. Conveyancing for my house purchase has just started. Is it possible to complete in 4 weeks as don't want to have to find temporary accommodation?
Generally one should not provide notice for your tenancy until you have exchanged. If you have not already done so, notify to your solicitor and urge them to they seek the assistance the sellers solicitors, try to get a realistic time scale from them that everyone will work towards
Do lawyers ask for money on account for conveyancing in Hyde?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Hyde your solicitor will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. When the deposit is payable against the sale price then this will be needed shortly prior to contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is needed should be transferred shortly before completion.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Yorkshire BS, do Hyde solicitors incur an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Hyde. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
I have instructed a Hyde conveyancing practitioner having made sure that they are on the TSB conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
TSB will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually TSB will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your solicitor will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Hyde postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with TSB, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Hyde.
I used Stirling Law a few years ago for my conveyancing in Hyde. Now, I need the documents however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Hyde of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Our lawyer in Hyde has identified a defect with the lease for the property we are buying in Hyde. The seller’s lawyers have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our lawyer has advised that as he is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel he must be satisfied that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the mortgage company?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. A precondition to being on the lender approved panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.