My husband and I are purchasing a 3 bedroom flat in Aldershot with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Aldershot conveyancer, however the bank advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel firms or retain our Aldershot lawyer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Aldershot conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My wife and I are refinancing our maisonette in Aldershot with Leeds Building Society. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Leeds Building Society. This is solely used to protect Leeds Building Society if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Leeds Building Society had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

My property lawyer in Aldershot is not listed on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society Approved Panel. Can I still use my family solicitor even though they are not on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel?

Your options are as follows:

1. Carry on with your existing Aldershot solicitors but Norwich and Peterborough Building Society will need to instruct a conveyancer on their panel. This will result in additional overall legal charges as well as cause delays.
2. Get an alternative practitioner to to deal with the purchase, not forgetting to check they are Convince your solicitor to use their best endeavours to join the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society conveyancing panel

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Aldershot is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can give?

Flying freeholds in Aldershot are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Aldershot you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Aldershot may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

I recently discovered that one of the directors of the conveyancing practice handling the purchase conveyancing in Aldershot is an aunty of the vendor. Is this permitted?

Provided no conflict arises this is allowable. Where you are obtaining a mortgage then the mortgage company may have a say as many mortgage companies have specific requirements on this. For example for RBS - Virgin One as of 11/11/2024, the requirements read as follows :