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Anonymous (at 13.36), you really need to do a little more research first. I am unaware of any developer anywhere requesting a referral fee.

They want to recommend firms of Solicitors who are prepared to invest time in getting familiar with proposed legal set up on the site before the buyers are introduced, so the legal wheel does not get re-invented, every time a different law firm comes along . Many of these firms will have prepared detailed reports on the site, which will have advised on the ground rents, term of lease etc.

Anonymous at 13.47, you need to do some research too. Most lender panels now consist of over 5000 firms, and dual representation works perfectly well. Its only firms who do not stand up to the lender's due diligence criteria that don't get approved, and these are often those who just dabble occasionally in Conveyancing.

Anonymous at 13.36 and 12.52- what evidence have you got to support your assertions ? This conflict of interest point gets overplayed - we refer over 50,000 of our customers to law firms every year, and i find that our panel of firms work very hard to protect their customer's interests... and i fully respect them for that. They are not so naive or stupid as to just exchange when a referrer says so.

Our arrangements allow firms to receive consistent volumes, and to invest in their businesses. If referral fees were outlawed, nothing would change, other than we would be owning the law firms undertaking the work instead, as alternative business structures.

And why do all of you above have to hide behind anonymous ?