We are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in Leegomery with a mortgage. We wish to retain our Leegomery lawyer, but the lender says she’s not on their "panel". It appears that we have no choice but to select one of the lender panel solicitors or keep our Leegomery property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to require that the mortgage company use our Leegomery lawyer ?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Leegomery conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Do I need to attend the offices of the solicitor to sign the legal charge? If so, I will instruct a firm who offer conveyancing in Leegomery so that I can pop in to their offices if required.
Nowadays conveyancing panel lawyers for banks conduct the vast majority of work via the post, e-mail or over phone calls. This means that they can undertake the conveyancing transaction no matter where you live in England or Wales. That being said you should see if you can still book an appointment to visit conveyancing lawyer if needed.
I am assisting my sister sell her house in Leegomery. Will the conveyancing solicitor order an EPC or should I organise this?
After the abolition of Home Packs, EPC’s was left as a required component of selling a house. An energy assessment needs to be to hand before the property is placed on the market. It is not a task that lawyers normally organise. Where you are using a Leegomery conveyancing lawyer they may help arrange EPC’s given their contacts with long established local accredited person
We have agreed to purchase a house in Leegomery. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Virgin Money be concerned?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Virgin Money your lawyer must check the formal instructions set out in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Virgin Money. The CML Handbook sets out minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to Virgin Money where a lease fails to meet these specifications. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Leegomery.
My offer was accepted on an apartment in Leegomery on 24/12/2025, valuation was booked five days later, all came back fine. Solicitor retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to TSB and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel. Are TSB entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for TSB to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the TSB conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I am buying a house and the solicitor has identified Chancel Repair for which the property could be obligated to pay as it falls into the area of such a church. She has suggested insurance. Is this strictly warranted for conveyancing in Leegomery
Unless a previous acquisition of the house completed after 12 October 2013 you may take it that solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Leegomery to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Leegomery is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Leegomery are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Leegomery you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Leegomery may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I was pointed in your direction by a couple of local selling agents in Leegomery to locate a solicitor on your site. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers over and above a competitor’s?
We don’t make any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.