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The first thing you need to do is to contact your conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the the approved Birmingham Bank solicitor panel.

All property lawyers on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in Birmingham Bank’s Part 2 requirements of the CML Handbook (last updated on Birmingham Bank). Being on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel your lawyer is expect to follow these requirements.

Our service is a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Birmingham Bank . We don’t recommend any particular firm.

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist

Given that your lender is Birmingham Bank your lawyer must to check the Birmingham Bank conveyancing instructions contained in the Part of CML Handbook for Birmingham Bank . The CML Handbook contains minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Birmingham Bank where a lease does not meet these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales. The CML are developing guidance for Northern Ireland and Scotland.

If you are getting a mortgage with Birmingham Bank involved you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel. We would not encourage you to both use the same solicitors' firm. There are clear conflict of interest issues and it's not going to make a huge difference to the speed of the overall process. So as not to hold things us you should pass on your solicitors details to Birmingham Bank. Feel free to use our search tool to look for a licensed conveyancer or solicitor on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel.

Birmingham Bank will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Birmingham Bank 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 Birmingham Bank you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.