My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a property in Chopwell and have instructed a Chopwell conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. National Westminster Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Chopwell conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Chopwell solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
About to place an offer on a leasehold property in Chopwell. The property agents tell me that it is the norm for flats in Chopwell to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am obtaining a loan with Platform. Is this going to be acceptable if the lease has 72 years left.
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. Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 14/9/2025 the requirements read as follows :
I have a semi-detached Georgian property in Chopwell. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Britannia. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. Is it worth asking Britannia to clarify?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Chopwell and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.
I am purchasing my first flat in Chopwell with a loan from The Royal Bank of Scotland. The sellers would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my lawyer about this side-deal as it will impact my mortgage with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
My financial adviser has recommended their solicitor for our conveyancing in Chopwell - Surely it’s better to just use them?
It is not always the case and you are free to opt for whichever conveyancing practitioner of your choosing for your Chopwell home move. A conveyancer suggested by a 3rd party adviser may not always be the right solicitor, they may recommend their own conveyancing firm who are based remotely. In this instance you may not have contact with your property lawyer and due to the lack of continuity in the transaction, it may be difficult to obtain progress reports.