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approved by Banks & Clients

You have a number of options available to you here:

1. Carry on with your preferred solicitors but Banks and Clients will need to instruct a lawyer on the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel. This will result in additional cost and potential delay.
2. Get a new solicitor to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel.
3. Urge your lawyer to apply to join the Banks and Clients lender panel

The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked.

The Developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it.

The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

We are not in the business of recommending one firm above another as the right firm for you depends on where your priorities lie. For example you may require a local firm with local knowledge or you might be looking for the low cost conveyancing. We recommend that you speak to 3 or 4 lawyers listed before you make your choice..

This is a rare situation indeed. Most lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local Banks and Clients branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can help.

It is true that some lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of firms.

Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Banks and Clients but by your lawyers. Some firms on the Banks and Clients will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.

Banks and Clients will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Banks and Clients will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller. or Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Banks and Clients you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.