Advice needed re next step in sale and purchase transaction.

[Fandyman]

Hi,

My offer was accepted about month ago. I have instructed a solicitor straightaway and went to the bank (I know I should have gone via broker but for various reason I went direct) and waited few weeks for an appointment which happened few days ago. My solicitor is not able to act for this lender (Leeds) hence I am at crossroads. Why the solicitor did not share which banks they cannot act for is beyond me but that is another story.

The mortgage application I can go with and stay with my solicitor is at First Direct and I have an appointment to finalise the mortgage tomorrow. Both mortgage application will be roughly at the same point in time (few days apart). I've also checked the SLAs and they seem to be very similar:

Leeds - www.leedsbuildingsociety.co.uk/intermediaries/service-status/
First Direct(HSBC) - intermediaries.hsbc.co.uk/our-latest-service-levels/

so it should be roughly same 6 weeks from application to release of funds.

I know it is very difficult to say which way to go but does anyone have an experience which route might take longer?
Should I switch solicitor and stay with my bank or should I change my bank and stay with solicitor?

I think you should find a broker to get you the best possible deal, instead of looking for a mortgage provider that will work with your solicitor!

If your solicitor has already made good progress on your transactions and it will cause a delay to start all of the legal work again, then you should really go with a lender that will work with your solicitor.

A solicitor wouldn't normally inform clients which lenders they work with because there are a lot of lenders and firms are added to and taken off their panels quite often. Sometimes small firms with only two partners are not accepted by some lenders, or it might be that a firm took too long to register the lender's interest in a property or forgot to protect the lender's priority, which results in the solicitor's firm being removed from the lender panel, albeit temporarily.

My solicitor has already instructed searches and I paid £400 towards the sale and purchase transactions.