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approved by Hampden

Hampden and other mortgage companies normally imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that Hampden have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Hampden Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, Conveyancing is not their speciality? To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime; probably not.

The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and Hampden are the client. A precondition to being on the Hampden approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Hampden). The CML Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that Hampden can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Hampden conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint.

In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on Hampden conveyancing panel, but Hampden would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same conveyancing matter.

Hampden would not normally appoint a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they did require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Hampden list

Hampden will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Hampden will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller. or Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Hampden you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.

A limited percentage of Hendon conveyancing firms are on the Hampden conveyancing panel. 8 people a month use our search tool to search for a Hendon conveyancing practitioner on the on the Hampden approved list of lawyers.