My husband and I are hoping to buy a 3 bedroom apartment in Leeswood with a mortgage. We like our Leeswood solicitor, however the lender advise she’s not on their "panel". It seems we have no choice but to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or keep our Leeswood property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. We feel that this is unjust; are we not able to require that the lender use our Leeswood conveyancing practitioner ?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders 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. Another option that might be available is for your Leeswood conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My lawyer has uncovered a defect with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Leeswood. The seller’s lawyers have put forward defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our property lawyer says that he must check that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the lender?

Notwithstanding that you have a mortgage offer from the mortgage company does not mean to say that the property will meet their provisions for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. You and the lender are the client. These conveyancing instructions must be adhered to.

My wife and I are purchasing a flat in Leeswood. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to put funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

I had a mortgage agreed in principle with HSBC. Leeswood conveyancing practitioners were selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from HSBC?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have HSBC conducted the valuation? Have you advised HSBC as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the HSBC conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

I had an offer accepted on a property in Leeswood on 8/9/2025, valuation was booked five days later, all came back fine. Solicitor appointed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Nationwide and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

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

I require fast conveyancing in Leeswood as I am under an ultimatum to sign on the dotted line within 4 weeks. Fortunately I do not require a mortgage. Can I escape the need for conveyancing searches to save money and time?

As you are not taking a mortgage you are at free not to do searches although no law firm would recommend that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in Leeswood the following are instances of issues that can arise and therefore impact the marketability of the property: Refused Planning Applications, Outstanding Charges, Overdue Grants, Railway Schemes,...

I'm purchasing my first flat in Leeswood with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep advised me not to tell my conveyancer about the extras as it could impact my loan with Skipton Building Society. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.