Common questions asked concerning the The Mortgage Works Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
On what basis would a law firm be excluded from the The Mortgage Works solicitor panel?
A survey recently commissioned by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority found that three quarters of law firms had been excluded from a lender panel. The top reasons in order are :
- lack of transactions
- the lawyer is a sole practitioner
- as part of the HSBC panel reduction
- regulatory contact by SRA
- accidental removal. We are not aware of the specific or common criteria for removal by The Mortgage Works
can you help? My solicitor is advising me that he is legally obliged to order a Local Authority search stemming from the fact that the firm are on the The Mortgage Works approved lawyer panel. Is this really necessary?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. Given that you are taking out a loan with The Mortgage Works your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of The Mortgage Works’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated The Mortgage Works. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
What tools are available to find a local solicitor on the The Mortgage Works conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20 miles to meet the lawyer.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel search on this page. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest you. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the The Mortgage Works solicitor panel.
I would like to get my former partner taken off the mortgage deeds. Can The Mortgage Works really insist on which solicitor I can or can not instruct?
You can use any solicitor you like but The Mortgage Works then has the right to appoint a different solicitor to act for them at your expense. It might be more cost effective and quicker to instruct a lawyer who is on the The Mortgage Works solicitors panel
When it comes to lenders such as The Mortgage Works do solicitors have to be pay a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their panel although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Do most banks operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the The Mortgage Works conveyancing panel requirements are different to The Mortgage Works’s conveyancing panel criteria.
My offer on house has been 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 should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage app going with The Mortgage Works?
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 The Mortgage Works 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 The Mortgage Works and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.
