I am progressing with the sale of my flat in Rainhill and the estate agent has just called to advise that the purchasers are swapping conveyancer. The excuse is that the bank will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only engage with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Rainhill ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Lenders attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that 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 sway in the decision.
We are about to sign contracts for a property in Rainhill. We have hit a snag. Our loan offer with Halifax runs out on 22/10/2025 but the owners are suggesting a completion date of 24/10/2025. Can one extend the mortgage offer?
The person best placed to address this concern is your solicitors who will hopefully calculate whether he or she is should be discussing with the bank, owner’s solicitors, estate agents or indeed all three given what has happend in your transaction as of today.
Do the Building Society Association intend to launch a online directory to list practices on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel for instance in Rainhill?
We would not expect to be advised of any intention on the part of the BSA to promote such a tool.
Various online forums that I have visited warn that are a common cause of hinderance in Rainhill house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the top 10 causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Rainhill.
2 months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in Rainhill completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Rainhill before appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to give a mortgage on such a property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can check with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Rainhill. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Rainhill especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Rainhill.