I am selling my ground floor flat in Westgate on Sea and the EA has just called to say that the purchasers are switching law firm. The reason given is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a leading mortgage company only work with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Westgate on Sea ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.
Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
I have given 8 weeks notice to my existing landlord and have to vacate my let out property in Westgate on Sea by 22/6/2026. Conveyancing on my purchase is underway. How realistic is it to complete in a couple of weeks as don't want to have to move into temporary accommodation?
The normal practice is not to give notice on a rental until your lawyer suggests that you should. If you have not previously done so, notify to your lawyer and request that they seek the assistance the owners side, try to get a realistic time scale from them that all parties will look to achieve
Do banks and building societies provide you with an approved list of Westgate on Sea conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the TSB conveyancing panel?
Westgate on Sea conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the TSB conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from TSB directly.
We wish to acquire a purpose built flat in Westgate on Sea with a residential mortgage from HSBC Bank.We would like to retain our Westgate on Sea conveyancing solicitor but HSBC Bank informed us she’s not listed on their approved list of firms. It seems we are left with no choice but to instruct a HSBC Bank panel firm or keep our preferred solicitor and pay for a HSBC Bank panel lawyer to act for them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that HSBC Bank use our lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The loan issued to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that lawyers needs to be on the HSBC Bank approved list. in the past, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose 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 HSBC Bank
About to purchase a new build flat in Westgate on Sea. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Westgate on Sea
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The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?
A licensed conveyancer acted on my conveyancing in Westgate on Sea half a dozen years past having stored my registration certificates but has since been shut down – how do I retreive them?
Title deeds, as such, are no longer appropriate for the majority of homes in Westgate on Sea are recorded electronically at Land Registry. Should you need to establish ownership or are selling or re-mortgaging your conveyancing practitioner can obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned with reasonable haste.