Housing costs

AS A solicitor involved in conveyancing, I readily acknowledge that the legal profession is far from perfect but the apparent concern expressed by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML)over increased house buying costs bears further scrutiny (your report, 23 March).

The current malaise in the housing market has little to do with the legal profession and much to do with the profligate policies of mortgage lenders – as has been well documented. The fact that CML members have for several years now sought to lay some of the blame for their losses at the doors of solicitors and surveyors has been instrumental in fuelling the current conflict-of-interest debate.

Even now, there is no uniformity in the instruction solicitors receive from mortgage lenders. On receipt of a mortgage offer, a complicated set of instructions has to be downloaded for each individual lender, involving rigorous cross-checking to comply with each lender’s requirements. Members of the public can form their own view of who must bear responsibility for any increase in costs.

Jim Carlin

Linlithgow, West Lothian