My partner and I are hoping to acquire a property in West Dulwich and have instructed a West Dulwich conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Lloyds TSB Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our West Dulwich lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 solicitor should contact your lender 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred West Dulwich lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I have 7378 less than 75 years remaining on my lease and need a lease extension for my apartment in West Dulwich. Conveyancing solicitors on the The Mortgage Works panel can deal with such extensions correct?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 8/11/2026 the requirements read as follows :
Minimum unexpired lease term is 70 years with 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 70 years
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn ground rent (annual rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any new build properties completed but not sold pre 30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the lease conforms to the above guidance
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years
Lease Extensions
We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where a proposed Lease Extension does not meet these requirements, however you feel that this is in the best interest for our mutual client, please refer all details to the Issuing Office for us to consider.
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
We are buying a house in West Dulwich. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we have to send funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
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.
Do I find a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in West Dulwich?
Two types of professional can execute conveyancing in West Dulwich namely licenced conveyancers or solicitors. The two can administer conveyancing services that you need to complete the sale or purchase of property. They are both obliged to handle West Dulwich conveyancing to the same quality and guidelines so you can be safe in the knowledge that your conveyancing will be professionally carried out and that the requisite procedures will be suitably attended to.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in West Dulwich. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £175. A couple of days later, the conveyancer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Bank of Ireland panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Will my conveyancer be asking questions regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in West Dulwich.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers specialising in conveyancing in West Dulwich. Plenty of people will acquire a property in West Dulwich, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the property. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that may be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in West Dulwich. The standard information sent to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard question of the vendor to find out whether the premises has historically flooded. If the premises has been flooded in past which is not notified by the owner, then a purchaser could bring a legal claim for losses as a result of such an inaccurate answer. The buyer’s conveyancers will also conduct an environmental search. This should disclose if there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations will need to be conducted.
I bought my home on 9 May and my personal details are still not on the land registry website. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in West Dulwich said it will be dealt with in less than a month. Are titles in West Dulwich uniquely lengthy to register?
As far as conveyancing in West Dulwich registration is no quicker or slower than the rest of England and Wales. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can vary subject to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any 3rd parties. As of today in the region of three quarters of such applications are completed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be extensive hold-ups. Registration occurs once the purchaser is living at the property so an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue but where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your lawyers should communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
My husband and I are new to the buying process - agreed a price, yet the estate agent informed us that the seller will only move forward if we instruct their chosen conveyancers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a family conveyancer used to conveyancing in West Dulwich
It is highly unlikely the vendors are behind this. If they desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Speak to the vendors direct and make sure they understand (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you are going to use your own,trusted West Dulwich conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will give the estate agent a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing targets set by head office.