Frequently asked questions relating to the Hampden Solicitor Panel from members of the public
Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my solicitor is not identified on the Hampden Conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the quality of his work?
That would more than likely be a wrong assumption to make. There are all sorts of perfectly reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows: (1) lack of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. If you are concerned you should simply call the firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for Hampden.
My partner and I intend to remortgage our maisonette with Hampden. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Hampden conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Hampden conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Hampden .This is solely used to protect the Hampden if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave.
It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Hampden had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
I need to find a Hampden panel solicitor in Belfast. Could you help me?
Unfortunately it’s not apparent why you need a Hampden panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to Hampden to find out which solicitors in Hampden are on their panel. If you do find such a firm not listed please direct them to our site to list. After all the cost is only one £1 a month
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is removed from the Hampden Conveyancing panel before completion?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyers I paid an upfront payment of 225. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Hampden 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 Hampden 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 property on the 20th March 2014, valuation was booked five days after, all came back fine. Solicitor instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Hampden and chasing them on my offer I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Hampden conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Hampden to deal with your lawyers application to be on the Hampden conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitors will be accepted.
We are are remortgaging a house in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitors in Hendon need to beretained. My motherrecommended that we check that the conveyancer in Hendon is on the Hampden approved list of lawyers. Is this really necessary?
A limited percentage of Hendon conveyancing solicitors are on the Hampden conveyancing panel. 8 people a month use our search tool to locate a Hendon conveyancing firm on the on the Hampden approved list of lawyers.
