In scouring online forums for a cheap lawyer in Harringay, most say that I should instruct a CQS kitemarked lawyer. What is CQS?

The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) provides a kitemark for residential conveyancing practices issued by the Law Society. Membership achievement establishes a level of credibility for member firms with stakeholders (regulators, lenders, insurers and consumers) based upon: * the integrity of the senior responsible officer and other key conveyancing staff * the firm's adherence to good practice management standards * compliance with prudent and efficient conveyancing procedures through the scheme protocol the standard includes numerous organisations who conduct conveyancing in Harringay.

I'm in the throws of viewing flats in Harringay and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I am planning to take a mortgage with Lloyds.

You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the EA. As you are taking out a mortgage with Lloyds, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

I have a mortgage with Nottingham for my property in Harringay. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Nottingham?

You must advise Nottingham in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nottingham’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Nottingham will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Nottingham directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Nottingham conveyancing panel lawyer.

Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Harringay. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.

We are planning on selling our property in Harringay and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. Any high street Harringay lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers used an internet conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Harringay. Having lived in Harringay for 5 years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to get confirmation that there is no issue.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)

Me and my brother purchased a terraced Georgian house in Harringay. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Birmingham Midshires. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for 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 Harringay 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 mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I am purchasing my first flat in Harringay benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The sale representative told me not disclose to my lawyer about the extras as it will put at risk my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.