As a novice what is the most important advice you can give me regarding purchase conveyancing in South London?
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in South London and elsewhere in London is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists plenty of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the legal transfer of property. For example, the seller, property agent and even potentially the mortgage company. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in South London an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the legal process whose role it is to act in your legal interests and to protect you.
There is a definite emergence in the "blame" culture- someone must be at fault for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer ahead of all other players when it comes to the legal assignment of property.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is suspended from the Santander Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in South London?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
Me and my brother purchased a 4 bedroom Georgian property in South London. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Leeds Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same address. Is it worth asking Leeds Building Society to clarify?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in South London and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.
How does conveyancing in South London differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in South London approach us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in South London tend to acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in South London or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in South London in advance of instructing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to grant a mortgage on such a premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can check with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in South London. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in South London to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
To what extent are South London conveyancing solicitors under an obligation to the Law Society to supply transparent conveyancing costs?
Contained within the Solicitors Code of Conduct are prescriptive rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their charges to clients.The Law Society have a practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not to be regarded as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, however, represent the Law Society’s view of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in South London or beyond.