My wife and I are planning to purchase a home in Liphook and have appointed a Liphook conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Coventry Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Liphook solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank 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 lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Liphook lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
When can the exchange of contracts take place for sale conveyancing in Liphook and am I required to be at the solicitors office?
Where you are round the corner to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Liphook you are welcome to attend to sign the paperwork. That being said, the firms we recommend provide a national conveyancing service and provide as equally diligent and professional a job for you when communicating with you digitally. The signing of the contract is not when everything is set in stone. A signed contract simply enables the solicitor to officially exchange when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Liphook)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Liphook. My lender is Virgin
Virgin have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 5/5/2026, the requirements read as follows :
I have a mortgage with Leeds Building Society for my property in Liphook. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Leeds Building Society?
Your original mortgage agreement with Leeds Building Society will provide that you need their approval before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Leeds Building Society’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Leeds Building Society directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor.
My offer was accepted on a house in Liphook on 10/3/2026, valuation was booked 4 days later, all came back fine. Conveyancer appointed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Santander and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Santander conveyancing panel. Are Santander 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 Santander to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Santander conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Liphook lawyer having checked that they are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Nottingham will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nottingham 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 lawyer 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 Liphook postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nottingham, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Liphook.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Liphook is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Liphook are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Liphook 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 Liphook may decide 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.
My partner has encouraged me to appoint his lawyers for conveyancing in Liphook. Should I use them?
There are no two ways about it the ideal way to find a conveyancing solicitor is to have recommendations from friends or relatives who have experience in using the solicitor you're considering.