I am progressing with the sale of my home in Limehouse and the EA has just text me to say that the buyers are changing their conveyancer. The excuse is that the bank will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only work with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Limehouse ?

Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.

Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. 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 do not even realise 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 unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

We note that you have a search directory listing solicitors on the conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a commission if I instruct them for our conveyancing in Limehouse?

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

There are plenty of conveyancing solicitors in Limehouse but how do I know who I should use?

Do not opt for the lowest Limehouse conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.

I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by . Is it usual for to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Limehouse is approved on their conveyancing panel? have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.

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 to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

My sealed bid on a property in Limehouse has been agreed to, the vendors do nevertheless have a connected purchase. The vendors have placed an offer on somewhere, but it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other properties in the pipeline. I have selected a local conveyancing solicitor in Limehouse. What should be my next step? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with ?

It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Limehouse conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is check that your is on the conveyancing panel. As to the next phase this very much dictated by the specifics of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market many purchasers will apply for the mortgage with and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their to proceed with searches.

Am I best advised to appoint a Limehouse conveyancing lawyer based in the area that I am purchasing? An old friend can execute the conveyancing however they are based 400kilometers away.

The primary upside of using a local Limehouse conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to sign documents, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local Limehouse know how is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who instructed your friend and the majority were content that should outweigh using an unknown Limehouse conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being round the corner.

A licensed conveyancer dealt with my conveyancing in Limehouse three years past and was holding my registration documents but has now closed – What steps do I now take to get hold of them?

Title deeds, as such, no longer exist as the majority of homes in Limehouse are registered electronically at Land Registry. Should you need to show evidence of proprietorship or are selling or re-mortgaging your can obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.

If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned with reasonable haste.