I am six weeks into the sale of my house in Jarrow and the estate agent has just e-mailed to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new solicitor. The excuse is that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only work with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Jarrow ?

Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 25 years.

Lenders justify this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some 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.

Can your site be used to locate a Conveyancing solicitor in Jarrow even if I’m not buying or disposing of a house, for instance where I wish to buy an office in Jarrow with a loan from Britannia?

The service is primarily there to get a quote from residential conveyancing solicitors in Jarrow but we have listed at the end of this page some Jarrow commercial conveyancing firms. You should speak with the firm directly to establish if they are also authorised to represent Britannia

Various web forums that I have come across warn that are the main reason for hinderance in Jarrow conveyancing transactions. Is this right?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the common causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Searches are unlikely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Jarrow.

My wife and I own a 4 bedroom Edwardian property in Jarrow. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Santander. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Jarrow and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.

As co-executor for the will of my aunt I am selling a residence in Newport but reside in Jarrow. My lawyer (based 235 kilometers from merequires that I sign a stat dec prior to completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Jarrow who can witness this legal document for me?

Technically speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are located in Jarrow