My wife and I are hoping to acquire a house in Ystalyfera and have appointed a Ystalyfera conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. HSBC Bank have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Ystalyfera conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard 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 bank 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 bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Ystalyfera lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am in a contract race with another prospective purchaser for a property in Ystalyfera. What can I do to quicken up the conveyancing process?
In a situation where you are under a tight deadline for your conveyancing it is highly recommended that your solicitor is familiar with the location as they will have local contacts and intelligence. It is even conceivable that they may have transacted otherhomes in the same neighbourhood. You would be best advised to use a Ystalyfera conveyancing firm. Second, make sure that the lawyer is on the member panel. It is claimed that nearly one in five of Ystalyfera conveyancing transactions are held up or jeopardised after discovering a buyer’s conveyancer was not on their banks panel. This can often result in the home move being frustrated by an average of 21 days. It is claimed that this issue affects approximately one hundred thousand home moves annually. Almost all Ystalyfera conveyancing practices can not act for certain mortgage companies so do check at the outset.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Ystalyfera. My lender is The Mortgage Works
The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 25/1/2025, the requirements read as follows :
I happen to be the only beneficiary of my late mum's estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Ystalyfera. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I want to move. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship will be regarded the same way as if I'd bought the house in December. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be caught by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the bank as this provision is primarily there to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of properties.
We had chosen conveyancers with offices in Ystalyfera on the Bank of Ireland solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a separate fee for handling the Bank of Ireland mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Bank of Ireland?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your solicitor is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Bank of Ireland but by your Ystalyfera property lawyer. Some firms on the Bank of Ireland panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
I can not fathom if my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Ystalyfera building society branch on a couple of occasions and was informed it wasn't an issue and they would lend. My Ystalyfera conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they would not lend based on their published requirements. I simply don't know who is right.
Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 conditions for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender 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 lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
I used Stirling Law a few years ago for my conveyancing in Ystalyfera. Now, I need my files however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Ystalyfera of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Our lender agreed in principle to issue us a mortgage. We instructed a long established conveyancer in Ystalyfera two days ago. A couple of hours ago, our broker contacted us saying that the lender said that we cannot use our solicitor as they aren't on their 'approved list'. As novices, we had no idea that the lender had some control over our choice Is this legal?
You are at liberty to use any conveyancing solicitor you want to choose including the said conveyancer in Ystalyfera but if your lender aren't happy with them you will have to pay additional cost so the bank can instruct their own conveyancer too. sometimes it is conceivable that your preferred conveyancing firm to get added to the bank panel. Do make the most of web-based search facilities including lenderpanel.com to find a conveyancing solcitor in Ystalyfera on the mortgage company panel. You can go into your high street bank branch in Ystalyfera. They can recommend conveyancing solicitors in Ystalyfera on the approved list.