I am not well enough to travel far from West Norwood. Please clarify why all West Norwood conveyancing practitioners aren't automatically on all lender panels?
Mortgage Companies tend to impose restrictions on either the nature or volume of conveyancing solicitors on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that the firm must have two or more partners. As well as restricting the type of firm, some banks for example HSBC made a decision to limit the number of conveyancers they use to act for them. You should note that building societies have no accountability for the accuracy of advice provided by any West Norwood solicitor on their approved list. Property fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels in the last decade even though there are contrary opinions about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from HMLR reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out less than three conveyances annually. Those advocating conveyancing panel culls question why conveyancing firms should have claim to be listed on a conveyancing panel when clearly conveyancing is not their speciality?
My husband and I intend to remortgage our apartment in West Norwood with Nottingham. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Nottingham conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Nottingham. This is solely used to protect Nottingham if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Nottingham had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
As someone not used to the West Norwood conveyancing process what’s the number one tip you can impart for the legal transfer of property in West Norwood
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in West Norwood and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of opportunity for friction between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the seller, property agent and sometimes your lender. Selecting a solicitor for your conveyancing in West Norwood should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the legal process whose responsibility is to protect your legal interests and to protect you.
We are witnessing a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be at fault for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer ahead of all other parties in the home moving process.
About to place a bid on a leasehold property in West Norwood. The selling agents say that it is standard for flats in West Norwood to have less than 75 years remaining. I am expecting a mortgage with Virgin. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has 72 years left.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are getting a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Virgin have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 23/6/2025 the requirements read as follows :
I am purchasing a new build house in West Norwood with a mortgage from Chelsea Building Society. The developers would not move on the price so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The property agent told me not to tell my solicitor about the extras as it will impact my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Am I better off to use a West Norwood conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am hoping to buy? An old friend can perform the conveyancing but his firm is located over three hundred miles away.
The benefit of a high street West Norwood conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to sign paperwork, deliver your identification documents and pester them if necessary. Having local West Norwood know how is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and the majority were happy that should trump using an unfamiliar West Norwood conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being West Norwood based.