I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in West Malling and the estate agent has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new property lawyer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only work with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in West Malling ?

UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for many years.

Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

Can you clarify what the consequences are if my solicitor is expelled from the Co-operative Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in West Malling?

The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.

We are downsizing from our home in West Malling and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers instructed an internet conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in West Malling. Having lived in West Malling for three years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain clarification need.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor already. What do they say? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in West Malling?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in West Malling. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I am planning to acquire a property and need a conveyancing solicitor in West Malling who is on the bank solicitor panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for the mortgage company who do conveyancing in West Malling. We dont recommend any particular conveyancing practice.