I am acquiring a property mortgage free in Hampshire. I have been residing for the last twelve years in Hampshire. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I know the road and vicinity very well must I have all the conveyancing searches?

Provided that you do not need a home loan, then the vast majority of the Hampshire conveyancing searches are optional. Your conveyancer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches completed, but she has a professional duty to take that path of guidance. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it could be of relevance to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with functional issues can still reveal detrimental search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Hampshire should be able to give you some practical guidance in this regard.

As someone unfamiliar with conveyancing in Hampshire what is the number one tip you can impart for the home moving process in Hampshire

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Hampshire and elsewhere in England and Wales is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of opportunity for conflict between you and other parties involved in the ownership transfer. For example, the seller, estate agent and even potentially the lender. Selecting a law firm for your conveyancing in Hampshire an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the process whose role it is to protect your legal interests and to keep you safe.

We are witnessing a worrying ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be blamed for the process taking so long. We recommend that you must always trust your solicitor above all other parties when it comes to the legal assignment of property.

I am being told by my conveyancer that breach of easement insurance is required on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Hampshire conveyancing?

The right level of breach of easement indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Birmingham Midshires and Barnsley Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.

We are getting the release of further monies on our mortgage from RBS as we intend to conduct alterations to our property in Hampshire. Do we need to appoint a local Hampshire solicitor on the RBS conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?

RBS do not ordinarily require a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the RBS list.

I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Hampshire on 11/8/2025, valuation was booked 2 days later, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer appointed, so all that was missing 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. Can the lender hold off the offer?

Mortgage companies tend not to 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.

Should commercial conveyancing searches reveal proposed roadworks that could affect a commercial land in Hampshire?

Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Hampshire will execute a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers expend in sourcing accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Hampshire. The search result provides definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Hampshire.

For each commercial conveyancing transaction in Hampshire it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been addressed adequately can result in delays to Hampshire commercial conveyancing transactions as well as present a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not conducted for residential conveyancing in Hampshire.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Hampshire is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Hampshire are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Hampshire you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Hampshire may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.