My husband and I are planning to acquire a house in Wanstead and have appointed a Wanstead conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Aldermore have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Wanstead lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Wanstead lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
As a first time buyer what is the most important number one tip you can impart about purchase conveyancing in Wanstead?
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Wanstead or throughout North East London is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of opportunity for conflict between you and other parties involved in the transaction. E.g., the vendor, estate agent and sometimes the bank. Choosing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Wanstead an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the legal process whose role it is to act in your best interests and to protect you.
There is a worrying ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be at fault for the process being so protracted. You must always trust your conveyancer above the other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with UBS. Wanstead conveyancing lawyers are appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from UBS?
There is no definitive answer here. Have UBS done the valuation? Have you advised UBS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the UBS conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
It is not clear whether my bank requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Wanstead building society branch on various occasions and was told it does not impact the mortgage offer and they would lend. My Wanstead conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they would not lend in accordance with their specific requirements. I have no idea who is right.
The conveyancer has to comply with the CML Handbook section two provisions for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
My offer was accepted on a house in Wanstead on 8/9/2026, valuation was booked 3 days later, received a clean bill of health. Solicitor instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Virgin Money and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Are Virgin Money entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
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 Virgin Money to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I know that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I need this when acquiring a residence in Wanstead? or Apparently there is a law dating back centuries that could mean that house owners residing in a parish church boundary may be liable to contribute towards maintenance towards the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this a legitimate concern for conveyancing in Wanstead?
Unless a previous acquisition of the premises completed after 12 October 2013 you could take it that solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Wanstead to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
It has been 3 months following my purchase conveyancing in Wanstead completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one close by in Wanstead I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Wanstead suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.