My husband and I are planning to acquire a property in Emersons Green and are in fact using a Emersons Green conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Bank of Ireland have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Emersons Green conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?

When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Emersons Green lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

Can I use your services to recommend a Conveyancing solicitor in Emersons Green even where I’m not purchasing or selling a house, for instance where I intend to buy a shop in Emersons Green with a mortgage from Norwich and Peterborough Building Society?

Our search tool is primarily used to help choose domestic conveyancing solicitors in Emersons Green but we have listed towards the end of this page a selection of Emersons Green commercial conveyancing firms. You should speak with the firm directly to establish if they can also act for Norwich and Peterborough Building Society

I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Emersons Green. Now, I need my documents however the law firm has closed. What do I do?

Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Emersons Green of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

How does conveyancing in Emersons Green differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build property in Emersons Green come to us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because house builders in Emersons Green usually buy the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Emersons Green or who has acted in the same development.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Emersons Green conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Emersons Green conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Emersons Green conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions could be of use:

If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Emersons Green Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

The answer will be important as a) areas could result in problems in the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where services are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to have full disclosure For many Emersons Green leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be built into the service charges, although a few managing agents in Emersons Green ask tenants to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?