My fiance and I are planning to acquire a home in Warsash and have appointed a Warsash conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Chelsea Building Society have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Warsash conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors 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 Accreditation 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 lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Warsash solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am acquiring a brand new flat in Warsash and my solicitor is advising me that she has to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the builder. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange and my preference is not to prolong deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
My fiance and I intend to purchase a purpose built apartment in Warsash with a residential mortgage from Norwich and Peterborough Building Society.We have a Warsash conveyancing lawyer but Norwich and Peterborough Building Society says she’s not listed on their "panel". We have to appoint a Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel lawyer or keep our high street solicitor and fork out for a Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel lawyer to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage issued to you is subject to its terms and conditions, a common one being that conveyancers will be on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society approved list. in the past, most banks 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. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Norwich and Peterborough Building Society
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Yorkshire BS, do Warsash property lawyers face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any bank fees to register on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
We had appointed conveyancing lawyers locally in Warsash on the Santander solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me an additional amount for handling the Santander mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Santander?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your lawyer is entitled to levy a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by Santander but by your Warsash conveyancer. Plenty of firms on the Santander panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
I am expecting a DIP from Lloyds this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Lloyds recommend any Warsash solicitors on the Lloyds conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?
You will need to appoint Warsash solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Lloyds through the process.
My wife and I recently become aware that one of the directors of the solicitors undertaking the purchase conveyancing in Warsash is an uncle of the owners that we are purchasing from. Is this allowed?
On the basis that there is no conflict of interest this is permitted. If you are needing mortgage finance then the lender may have a say as many banks have specific instructions concerning this. For example for Halifax as of 13/10/2025, the requirements read as follows :