As someone clueless as to the Downend conveyancing process what’s your top tip you can give me for the home moving process in Downend

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Downend or throughout Bristol is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for friction between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the seller, property agent and even potentially your mortgage company. Choosing a law firm for your conveyancing in Downend should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the transaction whose role it is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.

On occasion a potential adversary may try and sway you that you should follow their advice. For example, the property agent may claim to be helping by suggesting your conveyancer is slow. Or your mortgage broker may tell you to do something that is against your lawyers advice. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Downend for our house move. Our financial adviser informed us that our mortgage company Aldermore won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?

Mortgage Companies on the whole restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing firms on their member panel. A common example of such criteria being that a firm must not be a sole practitioner. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of solicitor practices they use to represent them. Be aware that Aldermore have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Aldermore Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a primary driver in the reduction of conveyancing panels since 2008 even though there remains differing opinions regarding the level of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Data from the Land Registry indicate that thousands of law firms, including some in or near Downend only conduct a couple conveyances a year.

I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Downend ahead of instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies may not give a mortgage on this type of house.

It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Downend. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Downend especially if they are familiar with such properties in Downend.

How do I search for a Downend law firm on the The Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel? I have a car and am willing to travel upto 20kilometers to meet the solicitor.

You can use the search on this website. Please pick a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Downend conveyancing lawyers locally. We have listed some Downend conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can ring them to check if they are on the The Royal Bank of Scotland panel

A licensed conveyancer acted on my conveyancing in Downend half a dozen years past having stored my title documents but has since been shut down – how do I get hold of them?

Deeds, as such, are no longer appropriate for most homes in Downend are archived electronically at Land Registry. Where you need to establish ownership or are selling or re-mortgaging your property lawyer 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 as quickly as possible.