Can you help? My South Harrow lawyer is informing me me that she is duty bound toconduct South Harrow conveyancing searches due to the fact thatthe firm are on the HSBCconveyancing panel. Is this really necessary?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. Given that you are taking out a loan with a lender your conveyancer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your solicitor would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the CML Handbook provisions . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out South Harrow conveyancing searches.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Yorkshire BS Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in South Harrow?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
is it true that all South Harrow solicitor practices on the Nottingham conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Nottingham approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the SRA. Many mortgage companies do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be governed by the CLC.
My offer was accepted on an apartment in South Harrow on 21/11/2025, valuation was booked 3 days later, all came back fine. Conveyancer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Nationwide and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
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 Nationwide to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
TSB have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a house in South Harrow has been accepted, now what?
Your estate agent will wish to be informed of your conveyancing practitioner's details (ensure that the conveyancers are on the lender’s panel). Telephone TSB or your broker and finalise any outstanding forms. TSB will sellect a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or vendor to book a time for the valuation to happen. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a week to receive the mortgage offer. TSB will issue the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in South Harrow.
Is it necessary to pay for insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when buying a house in South Harrow?
Unless a prior acquisition of the premises took place post 12 October 2013 you may expect solicitors delivering conveyancing in South Harrow to continue to recommend a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
What tools are available to locate a South Harrow solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am happy to travel upto 20miles to meet the solicitor.
You can use the tool on this website. Please select a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of South Harrow conveyancing lawyers locally. We have detailed some South Harrow conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to see whether they are on the Virgin Money member panel
I am employed by a reputable estate agency in South Harrow where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local South Harrow conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Having spent years of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in South Harrow. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a South Harrow flat is GFF 1 Holyrood Avenue in May 2014. The Tenant wished to acquire a new (extended) lease and applied to the Willesden County Court who granted a vesting order on 20* March2013. The Tribunal decied that the premium to be paid was £9,062 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 79 years.