I am due to complete buying a house in South Hornchurch but as a consequence of wreckage from some water damage at the property I have managed to agree recompense from the current proprietors in the sum of £2k taking the form of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of a side agreement however Santander are not allowing this. Why were they informed?
Any solicitor being on a Santander conveyancing panel is obliged to inform Santander of any changes to the sale price. If you were to refuse your conveyancing practitioner to report the price change to Santander then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Santander and you would have to appoint a new solicitor for your conveyancing in South Hornchurch.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in South Hornchurch. My lender is Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 2/7/2026, the requirements read as follows :
Me and my partner are purchasing a flat in South Hornchurch. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? At some point we will need to send our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
We previously appointed solicitors based in South Hornchurch on the Santander solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a further amount for dealing with the Santander mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Santander?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your solicitor may levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Santander but by your South Hornchurch property lawyer. Some firms on the Santander panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in South Hornchurch. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in South Hornchurch ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor advised that some lenders may not issue a loan on a flying freehold property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in South Hornchurch. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in South Hornchurch to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
I was pointed in your direction by numerous property agents in South Hornchurch to select a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to offer your site rather than alternative conveyancing organisations?
We refuse to offer any commission for sending work our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission as a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
I own a leasehold house in South Hornchurch. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in South Hornchurch who previously acted has long since retired. Any advice?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a South Hornchurch conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
Having spent months of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in South Hornchurch. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a South Hornchurch conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a South Hornchurch residence is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 57.5 years.