My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Saxmundham and have appointed a Saxmundham conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Saxmundham lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 property lawyer 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 bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Saxmundham lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We note that you have a post code search directory listing law firms on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for our conveyancing in Saxmundham?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Saxmundham.
I am about to put an offer on a leasehold property in Saxmundham. The estate agents assure me that it is standard for flats in Saxmundham to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am obtaining a mortgage with Chelsea Building Society. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has 72 years remaining.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Chelsea Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 21/10/2026 the requirements read as follows :
What will a local search inform me concerning the property I am buying in Saxmundham?
Saxmundham conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company such as Searches UK The local search is essential in every Saxmundham conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject headings.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Saxmundham?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Saxmundham. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
We're novice buyers - had an offer accepted, but the agent told us that the seller will only move forward if we use their chosen conveyancers as they need a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family solicitor used to conveyancing in Saxmundham
We suspect that the owner is not behind this requirement. Should the vendor require ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine buyer is going to damage their objectives. Try to communicate with the sellers directly and make the point that (a)you are motivated buyers (b)you are ready to progress, with finances arranged © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you are going to appoint your preferred Saxmundham conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will earn the estate agent a commission or meet his conveyancing targets demanded by head office.