Different solicitor for you sale and purchase?

Nalia

Hi all,

I am in the process of selling my flat and purchasing another property, and had instructed a recommended and trusted solicitor to handle both sides of the deal for me.

The process has now started for the sale, and therefore some expenses, and I was about to fill in all the forms requested for the purchase.

But today I was informed by my mortgage lender (Platform) that they were not on their panel and they could not complete my mortgage request.
My solicitor says that her firm worked with this lender a few years ago and is looking for any reference that might speed up the process of being added to the panel.
However, my broker warned that it could take a while and nothing was guaranteed.

So I am considering instructing a solicitor on the lender panel for the purchase.
I suppose having 2 solicitors might delay the processes well though.

Have you had similar experiences? Is one of these options a much better solution?

Thanks in advance!

stator

Sorry I can't say which will be quicker but it's entirely possible to have two solicitors, one acting for the lender, one acting for you. Many mortgage lenders will appoint their own and charge you extra, so it's not the end of the world.
Your solicitor should be able to provide all the information needed to the new solicitor but if the new solicitor raises new issues it could delay the whole thing until those issues are sorted out. Getting your existing solicitor on the panel doesn't usually take very long, assuming your solicitor meets their basic requirements. But this lender may have specific requirements that take longer.

Kynthia

I don't know how long it would take for your solicitor to join their panel, but I have used a separate solicitor for a sale and purchase before. It didn't seem to make any difference or cause any difficulty, however we weren't in a chain and didn't link the purchase and sale but I can't imagine it would make much difference. It's just another solicitor to confirm exchange/completion with and to move the funds too.

WestonDave

Its fairly normal for solicitors to get added to a panel within a transaction, and provided they have the normal paperwork available it shouldn't take long unless the lender's administration is rubbish - in which case they'll probably be useless elsewhere as well!

ethank

Had this very recently - and it turned out that someone keyed Stephensons as Stevensons!

Nalia

My broker advised that the lender may take weeks to add new solicitors, with no guarantee.... In the middle of a chain so taking no chances and trying my luck with two solicitors.
Will let you know how it went when I get through the other end.
I guess the key now is communication between all parties.