I am progressing with the sale of my home in Grays and the estate agent has just called to warn that the buyers are switching property lawyer. The excuse is that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a big named mortgage company only engage with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Grays ?

Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.

Banks point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.

We are aiming to move home in March. Does my conveyancing solicitor call the removal company on the day of completion. On a separate note, can you put forward a removal company in Grays. Conveyancing solicitor was found prior to coming across your site.

On the day of completion you will need to collect the house keys from your estate agent but this should only occur once the sellers solicitors inform the agent that they have the completion monies and the keys can be collected. You can tell the removal company that you are ready to move in. We are not in a position to suggest a specific removal company but can help you choose a conveyancing in Grays or a lawyer that specialises in conveyancing in Grays.

I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Grays. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £225. A couple of days later, the lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Nottingham panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I had an offer accepted on a house in Grays on 20/1/2025, valuation was booked 4 days after, received a clean bill of health. Solicitor instructed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Leeds Building Society and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Leeds Building Society to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I understand that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I need this when acquiring a residence in Grays? or I am told that there is an ancient law that could mean that homeowners residing in a parish church boundary may be liable to pay for maintenance towards the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this relevant for conveyancing in Grays?

Unless a previous purchase of the property took place post 12 October 2013 you could take it that lawyers carrying out conveyancing in Grays to continue to suggest a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.

We're first time buyers - agreed a price, but the property agent advised that the vendor will only proceed if we use the agent's preferred conveyancers as they need a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local solicitor used to conveyancing in Grays

It is improbable the owners are behind this. Should the owner want ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated buyer is counter productive. Avoid the agents and go straight to the sellers and make sure they understand (a)you are motivated purchasers (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to instruct your preferred Grays conveyancing solicitors - rather thanthose that will provide their negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing figures demanded by senior management.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold house in Grays. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Grays who acted for me is not around. Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Grays conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am the proprietor of a first floor flat in Grays. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for a lease extension?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Grays flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76 years.