Me and my partner are acquiring an apartment in Shillington. My Solicitor is not listed on the bank approved panel. Am I still permitted to appoint my Shillington conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the mortgage company panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?

Various options include

• Carry on with your preferred Shillington solicitor but your lender will need to appoint a property lawyer from their conveyancing panel. This will result in additional cost together with likely interruption.
• Appoint a fresh conveyancer to act in the purchase, making sure they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
• Convince your conveyancer to pull out all the stops to get accepted on the mortgage company panel of solicitors

Do the conveyancing solicitors that you recommend conduct auction conveyancing in Shillington?

There are a few auction solicitors we can put you in touch with those specialising in auction conveyancing. Shillington is just one of hundreds of areas of in which our lawyers have offices.

I am the registered owner of a freehold premises in Shillington but still charged rent, why is this and what is this?

It’s unusual for properties in Shillington and has limited impact for conveyancing in Shillington but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the establishment of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.

Old rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 is to be extinguished.

Have purchased a a semi-detached house in Shillington , how long will it take for the Land Registry to register my title? My Shillington conveyancing solicitor works at snail pace, so I want to check the registration formalities are dealt with.

As far as conveyancing in Shillington registration is no quicker or slower than the rest of the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can adjust depending on who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry must send notices to any other parties. As of today roughly three quarters of submission are completed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to protracted hold-ups. Registration is effected once the buyer has moved in to the premises thus an expedited registration is not usually primary concern but if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor can contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.

My 20yr old son is embarking on her first house purchase, he had his mortgage in principle. After the offer was accepted on house we rang the bank to issue the formal offer. I was disappointed to learn that banks do not accept all conveyancer, they need to be on their approved list, is this legal?

Mortgage Companies ordinarily restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing firms on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Shillington conveyancing practitioner on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Unlikely.