Insisted that the vendor would only accept my offer if I used their in-house services for conveyancing and mortgage. Even tried to tell me they'd had a higher offer from someone else who was refusing to use their in-house services, yet still accepted my lower offer. This is against The Property Ombudsman's Code of Practice to which they say they adhere. Finally fought them off on the mortgage front, but still didn't want to use their solicitors as by now I had no trust in them. It all seemed highly dodgy to me. The vendor was in a hurry and I had already instructed my solicitor and started the process but according to FJ Lord she'd rather pull out and find someone new who will use their solicitors than complete with me. It's probably tied in with the fact that the vendor's new property is in one of their developments. Had they been honest with me about the reason, I might have accepted using their solicitors. As it is, I did not believe their solicitor would be acting in MY best interests which is why I refused to go on with them