I am nearing exchange of contracts for my house in Kirkby Lonsdale and the EA has just e-mailed to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new solicitor. I am told that this is due to the fact that the bank will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only deal with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Kirkby Lonsdale ?

Banks have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.

Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices 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. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

If you had a top tip for selecting a conveyancing solicitor in Kirkby Lonsdale what would it be?

Do not opt for the cheapest Kirkby Lonsdale conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. 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.

My wife and I have arranged the release of further funds on our home loan from UBS as we intend to carry out improvements to our property in Kirkby Lonsdale. Are we obliged to choose a local Kirkby Lonsdale solicitor on the UBS conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

UBS do not ordinarily require firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the UBS list.

I had an offer accepted on a house in Kirkby Lonsdale on 30/9/2025, valuation was booked 4 days after, all came back fine. Conveyancer appointed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Principality and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel. Are Principality entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?

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

Various internet forums that I have visited warn that are a common reason for obstruction in Kirkby Lonsdale conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the common causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Kirkby Lonsdale.

It has been three months following my purchase conveyancing in Kirkby Lonsdale concluded. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am looking into buying my first house which is in Kirkby Lonsdale and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Kirkby Lonsdale. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Kirkby Lonsdale area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Kirkby Lonsdale. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found