M&S Bank Solicitor Panel Example Support Desk Enquires from members of the public
My partner and I are first time buyers. Within the 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. M&S Bank have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
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 property lawyers should contact M&S Bank and see if they can apply for membership of the M&S Bank conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable M&S Bank will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
We are only a couple days away from an exchange and my parents having transferred the 10% deposit to my lawyer. I am now advised that as the deposit has not come from me my lawyer needs to disclose this to my lender M&S Bank. I am advised that, being on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel and acting on their behalf he must inform M&S Bank if the balance of the mortgage advance is not just from me. I disclosed to the bank about my parent’s contribution when I applied for the home loan so is it really necessary for this now to be an issue?
Your lawyer is obliged to check with M&S Bank to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only report this to M&S Bank if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
I need to find a M&S Bank panel solicitor in Belfast. Could you help me?
Unfortunately it’s not apparent why you need a M&S Bank panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to M&S Bank to find out which solicitors in M&S Bank 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
We're in London, FTBs buying with a mortgage (lender is M&S Bank , but our solicitor is on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a time-frame for your conveyancing due to third parties outside of our control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain
We have agreed a price on a flat I spoke to a conveyancer recommended by my uncle and he advised instructing a property lawyers approved by M&S Bank. The estate agent recommended two local firms so I asked M&S Bank if the 2 suggested solicitors are approved, which they are not. M&S Bank suggested that either practice can fill out the appropriate forms to become approved. Do I (1) save myself the aggravation and use one of M&S Bank 's conveyancing panel solicitors (2) Use the local solicitor and accept there may be delays etc as they go through the approval process.
Enquire of M&S Bank to suggest a law firm in your location. Lenders have them all over the country. You can also use our search tool at the top of this page to search for a lawyer on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel based on location. If you particularly like the sound of one of the local lawyers that you have spoken to ask them if they would go onto M&S Bank conveyancing panel as it may only take about 2-3 weeks. As long as they meet M&S Bank’s requirements it can be a very simple job for the solicitor. Other stuff will be going on in parallel (as you are at an early stage) so it may not delay matters.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers I paid an upfront payment of 200. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the M&S Bank 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 M&S Bank 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.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment accepted, the seller does however have a dependent purchase. The vendors have offered on somewhere, but not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage app going with M&S Bank?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx £1k, then survey/valuation, conveyancing search costs, etc). First you should check that your solicitor is on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel. As to the next stages this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a hot mortgage some buyers would pally for the mortgage with M&S Bank and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.
