Can you clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is removed from the Virgin Money Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Little Mill?

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.

I have been advised by my lawyer that lack of planning permission insurance is required on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Little Mill conveyancing?

The appropriate level of lack of planning permission indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Accord Mortgages Ltd and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.

When it comes to mortgage companies such as Kent Reliance, do Little Mill conveyancers incur a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?

We are not aware of any bank fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.

I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Little Mill on 23/7/2025, valuation was booked 2 days after, received a clean bill of health. Property lawyer retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to RBS and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for RBS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the RBS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

What can a local search reveal regarding the property I am buying in Little Mill?

Little Mill conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for example Xpress Legal The local search plays an important part in many a Little Mill conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your property. The search should reveal information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic areas.

I have justbeen informed that Stirling Law have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Little Mill for a purchase of a freehold house 10 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is in my name in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest method to see if the property is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Little Mill conveyancing specialists.

We are midway through purchasing a residence in Little Mill. Conveyancing solicitor has called to say the property is "Leasehold". Will this likely impact the salability of the house?

Little Mill conveyancing does not in most situations involve leasehold houses. The key factor here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If there are over a hundred years remaining with a peppercorn rent, it's essentially freehold, so it shouldn't impact the value too much.

At the other extreme, if it's, say, 50 years it will have a material impact on the saleability, and probably wouldn't be mortgageable. The length of lease and ground rent will be set out in the lease provided to your lawyer.