I am nearing exchange of contracts for my ground floor flat in West Thurrock and the EA has just called to warn that the purchasers are switching solicitor. The reason given is that the bank will only work with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in West Thurrock ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms 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 not going to have any impact on this.

I am in a contract race with another prospective purchaser for a property in West Thurrock. What can be done to speed up the conveyancing process?

Where you are under a tight deadline to complete it is advisable to make sure that your solicitor is familiar with the location as they will have local relationships and know-how. It is possible that they may have handled otherproperties in the same neighbourhood. Therefore consider using a West Thurrock conveyancing lawyer. Second, ensure that the conveyancing firm is on the lender panel. It is understood that just under twenty per cent of West Thurrock conveyancing deals are suspended or derailed after finding out that a buyer’s conveyancer was not on their mortgage lender’s list of approved solicitors. In many cases this discovery resulted in the legal process being held up by as much as 21 days. It is believed that this issue impacts approximately one hundred thousand home moves every year. Many West Thurrock conveyancing firms can not represent certain lenders so do check at the outset.

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unseasoned as FTB of a two bedroom flat in West Thurrock. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in West Thurrock?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the completion advance to the owner’s solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

We are purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in West Thurrock. We would like to carry out a loft conversion at the house.Will legal due diligence on the property involve enquiries to ascertain if these alterations were previously refused?

Your conveyancer will check the registered title as conveyancing in West Thurrock will sometimes reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit categories of changes or necessitated the permission of a 3rd party. Certain extensions call for local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Certain areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. It would be wise to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

is it true that all West Thurrock solicitor firms on the Aldermore conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Some mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the practice would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

We're new on the property ladder - agreed a price, but the selling agent has warned us that the vendor will only move forward if we use their recommended lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a family solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in West Thurrock

We suspect that the seller is not behind this requirement. If they desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated buyer is not the way to achieve this. Bypass the agents and go straight to the owners and make sure they understand (a)you are serious buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to use your own,trusted West Thurrock conveyancing firm - as opposed tothe ones that will give the negotiator at the agency a referral fee or meet his conveyancing figures pre-set by head office.

Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the mortgage company approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?

Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the bank conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the bank solicitor panel.