I plan on purchasing a leasehold flat in Leek. My Solicitor has never been on on the lender solicitor panel. Am I still permitted to appoint my Leek conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the mortgage company panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?

Your options include

• Carry on with your preferred Leek conveyancer but your bank will no doubt instruct a conveyancer on their approved panel. The net result is additional charges together with likely frustration.
• Get a fresh conveyancer to conduct the conveyancing, ensuring that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Appeal to your lawyer to apply to join the lender panel

The Leek conveyancing firm handling our Leek conveyancing has discovered a difference when comparing the information in the home valuation survey and what is in the legal papers for the property. My lawyer says that he is obliged to ensure that the lender is happy with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my solicitor’s approach right?

Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for both parties.

is it true that all Leek solicitors on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel are governed by the SRA?

As solicitors, in order to be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. The majority of mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Leek. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £200. Not long after, the conveyancer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the UBS 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 UBS 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 Leek on 2/1/2025, valuation was booked 4 days later, received a clean bill of health. Property lawyer instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Barclays and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Are Barclays entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?

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

My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, yet the selling agent told us that the owners will only go ahead if we instruct their recommended lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local solicitor who is accustomed to conveyancing in Leek

It is improbable the vendors are driving this. Should the vendor want ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious buyer is counter productive. Speak to the vendors direct and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you intend to use your preferred Leek conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will give their estate agent a kickback or hit his conveyancing targets demanded by senior management.

What are the frequently found problems that you come across in leases for Leek properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Leek is not unique. All leases are drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Aldermore all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Leek Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

Who is in charge of the block? This question is useful as a) areas can result in problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if maintenance remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to have all the details If a Leek lease has less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the value of the flat. Check with your lender that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will be required to have been the owner of the premises for a couple of years in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension.