I am nearing exchange of contracts for my maisonette in Gospel Oak and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the buyers are appointing a new property lawyer. The reason given is that the lender will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a big named lender only deal with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Gospel Oak ?

UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.

Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise 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.

Can I use your services to locate a Conveyancing solicitor in Gospel Oak even if I’m not buying or disposing of a house, for example if I want to acquire an office in Gospel Oak with a loan from Barclays Direct?

Our search tool is mainly there to select domestic conveyancing solicitors in Gospel Oak but we have recorded towards the end of this page some Gospel Oak commercial conveyancing firms. You will need to speak with the company directly to establish if they can also act for Barclays Direct

we are a couple who decided to purchase a purpose built flat in Gospel Oak with a residential mortgage from Coventry Building Society.We use our Gospel Oak conveyancing lawyer but Coventry Building Society advised that she’s not listed on their approved list of member firms. we are left little option but to use a Coventry Building Society panel lawyer or keep our preferred solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The home loan issued to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that solicitors must be on the Coventry Building Society solicitor panel. in the past, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find 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 lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Coventry Building Society

I am looking into buying my first house which is in Gospel Oak and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Gospel Oak. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Gospel Oak area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Gospel Oak. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found

We are four weeks into a freehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the selling agent to execute conveyancing in Gospel Oak. We are not happy. Can you you assist me in finding new lawyers?

A solicitor would have to be really bad to suggest diss instructing them. Has the mortgage been generated? In the event that it has you will need to advise them of the replacement lawyer and have the mortgage documents are issued to the new lawyers. Your new conveyancer should be on the banks approved list to avoid supplemental costs and delays. So that should be your first question of the new lawyers. The find a solicitor tool can assist you in finding a lender approved solicitor for your conveyancing in Gospel Oak