I am one month into the sale of my maisonette in Shenley and the EA has just e-mailed to warn that the buyers are swapping property lawyer. The excuse is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading lender only work with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Shenley ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.
Mortgage companies attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed 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 says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise 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 impact on this.
We note that you have a search directory identifying law firms on the TSB conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a commission if I instruct them for our own conveyancing in Shenley?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the TSB conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Shenley.
I am purchasing a property and need a conveyancing solicitor in Shenley who is on the Lloyds TSB Bank solicitor. Can you recommend a local firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Lloyds TSB Bank in certain locations such as Shenley. We dont recommend any particular firm.
My conveyancer has informed me that chancel insurance is required on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Shenley conveyancing?
The appropriate level of chancel indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Yorkshire Building Society and Skipton Building Society. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.
I had an offer accepted on a house in Shenley on 9/1/2026, valuation was booked 2 days after, all came back fine. Solicitor retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to HSBC and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for HSBC to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Clydesdale have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a property in Shenley has been agreed to, now what?
The estate agent will need to be advised as to your conveyancing practitioner's details (ensure that the solicitors are on the bank’s panel). Telephone Clydesdale or the financial adviser and finish off any relevant documentation. Clydesdale will sellect a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or vendor to schedule an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes approximately ten days to get a mortgage offer. Clydesdale will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Shenley.
We are planning on selling our property in Shenley and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. A local conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers instructed a factory type conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Shenley. Having lived in Shenley for 4 years we know of no issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to get clarification that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)
I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in Shenley. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is pay the invoice as usual as all ground rent and service invoices will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
Having spent months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Shenley. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Shenley flat is Ground Floor Maisonette 17 Milton Road in January 2014. The Tribunal determined the premium payable by the Applicant to the should be £13,299 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 71.73 years.