Legal Q&A: Should I use solicitors recommended by my property developers?

Should we go with solicitors that have been recommended by our property developers? Or should we steer well clear, and why? 
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Fiona McNulty6 May 2018

Question: My dad is going to help us financially to buy our first home, which is on a new development. For some reason he is quite adamant that we must not use any solicitors that are recommended by the developers or their sales agents. Why is this? What would be the problem with using those solicitors?

Answer: Your father is probably concerned about whether a law firm recommended by the developers is truly independent. In general, large developers will often have two or three law firms on their “panel”, with which they will have an arrangement whereby they refer all their new home buyers to them.

These law firms may have been given a sample contract package at an early stage so that they are well acquainted with the development layout, any planning requirements etc. Also, by acting for a number of buyers they may be able to charge lower fees as the legal work required for each plot will be similar.

For example, the contracts for sale are likely to be in a standard format, as will be the title reports that solicitors should provide to the buyer prior to exchange of contracts. Panel solicitors won’t want to upset the developers who refer work to them but they must act in the best interests of their buyer clients at all times. If they show any bias in favour of the developers, they could face serious disciplinary action.

These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, please email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, London Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE.

We regret that questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is a solicitor specialising in residential property.

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