“There seems to be a move by lenders to limit their panels at the moment. Any excuse to get Law Firms off bank panels is being used. This of course only limits consumer choice and is a bad thing all around. The banks continue to spin that they listen and work locally with people, whilst in reality doing down local legal service providers and threatening their existence. It may be that the writing is on the wall for domestic conveyancing and that the banks simply want to take over this service for themselves. It may be the case that the public will only realise what a good service they get from local solicitors, when, in the future, they end up talking to a call centre in the Far East about their Local Planning issue and end up banging their head against the wall. If you thought solicitors were bad just wait until the bankers take control!”

- Andrew