I am progressing with the sale of my home in Selby and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are swapping conveyancer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a big named lender only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Selby ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for many years.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms 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 not going to have any impact on this.
I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a relatively new development (6 years old) in Selby. Almost all the properties are already sold. Do I need carry out the conveyancing searches for my conveyancing in Selby?
If you getting a loan, your bank will require some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Selby conveyancing searches are for you to decide upon. No doubt your conveyancer, will 'advise', perhaps in the strongest possible terms, that you should not go ahead without searches, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you demand that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or ask you to appoint a different lawyer for your conveyancing in Selby.
As someone unfamiliar with the Selby conveyancing process what’s the number one tip you can give me concerning the home moving process in Selby
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Selby or throughout North Yorkshire is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of room for conflict between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the seller, selling agent and even potentially a mortgage company. Appointing a law firm for your conveyancing in Selby is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the transaction whose interest is to protect your best interests and to keep you safe.
There is a worrying ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be at fault for the process taking so long. We recommend that you must always trust your lawyer above the other parties in the conveyancing process.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Selby. Conveyancing is necessary. What happens now?
Given that you are now for all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you will need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor soon as you now have a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the purchase. All auction property will have a corresponding legal set of papers. This should include evidence of title and search results. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the legal papers may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation relating to leasehold premises. You need to give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that your finances are in order to complete on the on the contractual date .
We had appointed conveyancers with offices in Selby on the Barclays solicitor approved list. They have just billed me an additional sum for the legal aspects of the Barclays mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Barclays?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your lawyer can levy a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by Barclays but by your Selby lawyer. Numerous firms on the Barclays panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
My offer was accepted on a property in Selby on 16/12/2025, valuation was booked five days later, received a clean bill of health. Property lawyer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Skipton and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Are Skipton entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Skipton to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
My relative advised me that if I am purchasing in Selby I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Selby conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Selby around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Selby.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Selby I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Selby suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.