I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Standish and the estate agent has just telephoned to advise that the purchasers are switching property lawyer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading lender only engage with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Standish ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, 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 worked with them for many years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that 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. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
Do the conveyancing lawyers that you recommend handle conveyancing in Standish by way of an attended exchange?
We do have a number of conveyancing specialists who can conduct 24hr exchanges. Please e-mail us to get a conveyancing quote and details as to availability.
we are a couple who wish to acquire a newly converted flat in Standish with a mortgage from Aldermore.We use our Standish conveyancing lawyer but Aldermore advised that she’s not listed on their approved list of firms. It seems we have no choice but to instruct a Aldermore panel lawyer or retain our high street solicitor and pay for a Aldermore panel lawyer to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The home loan offered to you contains various provisions, a common one being that conveyancers will be on the Aldermore solicitor panel. Until recently, most mortgage companies had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Aldermore
When it comes to mortgage companies such as RBS, do Standish lawyers have to pay a yearly amount to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any bank fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I have a mortgage with Kent Reliance for my property in Standish. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Kent Reliance?
You must advise Kent Reliance in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Kent Reliance’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Kent Reliance directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Kent Reliance conveyancing panel solicitor.
I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Standish on 29/5/2025, valuation was booked five days later, all came back fine. Property lawyer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to TSB and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the TSB 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 TSB to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the TSB conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
A colleague advised me that where I am purchasing in Standish I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Standish conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Standish around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Standish Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Standish.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Standish is where the house is located. Can you offer any advice?
Flying freeholds in Standish are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Standish you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Standish may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.