My husband and I are planning to purchase a home in Hornsey and have appointed a Hornsey conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Hornsey conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Hornsey solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.

I have an AIP. The bank mentioned the loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to use their panel solicitor as I would much rather use a Hornsey based conveyancing firm?

Do check but the chances are that allocate you one of their panel lawyers should you want the "fee-free" deal. Call the bank and ask if they make available a monetary alternative. Some mortgage companies have previously offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case that money can go towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor near Hornsey.

I need some fast conveyancing in Hornsey as I am under an ultimatum to exchange contracts within one month. A mortgage is not required. Is it possible to decline from having conveyancing searches to save fees and time?

If.Given you are are a mortgage free buyer you are at liberty not to do searches although no solicitor would suggest that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in Hornsey the following are instances of issues that can crop up and therefore impact future mortgageability: Enforcement Notices, Outstanding Charges, Overdue Grants, Railway Schemes,...

I am 3 weeks into a freehold purchase having been recommend to solicitors by the estate agent to perform conveyancing in Hornsey. We are not happy. Can you help me find new conveyancers?

They would need to be really bad to suggest replacing them. Has your loan offer been sent? If so you need to advise them of the new contact details and have the offer are issued to the new lawyers. Your conveyancer should be on the banks panel to avoid escalating fees and delays. So that should be your first question of the new solicitors. The find a solicitor tool should assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your home move in Hornsey

I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the lender conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the bank approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?

Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the bank conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the bank solicitor panel.