I am one month into the sale of my ground floor flat in Belford and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the buyers are swapping law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only deal with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Belford ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.

Banks attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some 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 buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.

I am the single recipient of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Belford. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in July. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership may be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in July. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The CML handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be impacted by that. How practical a view lenders take of it, depend on the bank as this requirement is chiefly there to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of properties.

Can you point me to a directory of Coventry BS panel conveyancers in Belford on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?

No. There is no such facility on the CML or Building Society Association sites. Very few lenders make their panel listings viewable online. If you are seeking to appoint a Belford conveyancer on the Coventry BS please make the most of our tool.

I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Belford on 4/7/2025, valuation was booked five days after, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to HSBC and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Are HSBC entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?

A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for HSBC to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one round the corner in Belford I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Belford suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?

Should you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.

I was advised by two or three local estate agents in Belford to find a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial advantage for Estate Agents to offer your services ahead of a competitor’s?

We don’t offer any referral fee for sending work in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

What can I do where I am dissatisfied with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted my conveyancing in Belford?

We live in an imperfect world, and unfortunately sometimes matters do not go as planned. That being said there is recourse where you were not happy with your conveyancing in Belford. This varies from trying to resolve matters directly with them, through to reporting a conveyancing practitioner to their regulator. If you remain aggrieved you may consider enlisting the help of the Legal Ombudsman.