Find a Law Firm
approved by Rely

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.

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 solicitors should contact Rely Mortgages and see if they can apply for membership of the Rely Mortgages conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Rely Mortgages will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Rely Mortgages conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Your lawyer being on the Rely Mortgages conveyancing panel is duty bound to inform Rely Mortgages of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your lawyers to disclose the reduction to Rely Mortgages then they would have to discontinue acting for you and Rely Mortgages.

It is not clear why you need a Rely Mortgages panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to Rely Mortgages to find out which solicitors in Rely Mortgages are on their panel. If you do find such a firm not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site

There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor but Rely Mortgages will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is greater potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.

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

Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Rely Mortgages conveyancing panel requirements are different to Rely Mortgages’s conveyancing panel requirements.

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