It has come to my attention via my IFA that my Stanmore lawyer is not on the bank Conveyancing panel. What can I do to be sure whether this is correct?

The first thing you need to do is to call your Stanmore conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they may recommend you to a Stanmore conveyancing firm that is on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.

I am buying a house without a mortgage in Stanmore. I have resided for the previous Seventeen years in Stanmore. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. Given that I know the area and road intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

In the absence of a home loan, then all but one or two of the Stanmore conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your solicitor will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but he is duty bound to take that path of advice. Do bear in mind; if you are going to dispose of the house one day, it could be of interest to your prospective buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes properties with day to day issues can still reveal adverse search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Stanmore will be able to give you some practical guidance in this regard.

As I am unsure how the conveyancing bit works what is the most important advice you can give me about purchase conveyancing in Stanmore?

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Stanmore and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. For example, the vendor, estate agent and on occasion a mortgage company. Appointing a law firm for your conveyancing in Stanmore should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the process whose interest is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.

We are witnessing a definite emergence of a "blame" culture- someone has to be blamed for the process being so protracted. You your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer above the other parties in the conveyancing process.

I am about to put a bid on a leasehold property in Stanmore. The selling agents say that it is normal for flats in Stanmore to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am getting a mortgage with Chelsea Building Society. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has Seventy One years to go.

Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Chelsea Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 23/7/2024 the requirements read as follows :

I'm the single beneficiary of my late father’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Stanmore. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in June. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership may be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the property in June. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be impacted by that. Some lenders would take a practical view as this clause chiefly exists to pick up on subsales or the flipping of properties.

We previously instructed conveyancing lawyers locally in Stanmore on the HSBC solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a separate sum for handling the HSBC mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by HSBC?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your property lawyer can levy a fee for this. This fee is not dictated by HSBC but by your Stanmore conveyancer. Plenty of firms on the HSBC panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some firms include it on their overall fee.

The mortgage over my property is with RBS for my property in Stanmore. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform RBS?

RBS must be informed of your intention before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of RBS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact RBS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a RBS conveyancing panel solicitor.