Finally the sale completed on my house in St Luke's last April but my buyer keeps SMS messaging every few hours complaining that his conveyancer needs to hear from myconveyancer. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?

After completion of your sale your solicitor is obliged to forward the transfer deeds and all supplemental paperwork to the purchaser's solicitors. Where appropriate, your solicitor should also evidence that the mortgage has been repaid to the buyers solicitors. There are no post completion requirements peculiar conveyancing in St Luke's.

is it true that all St Luke's solicitor practices on the RBS conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?

As solicitors, in order to be on the RBS conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Some mortgage companies do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the CLC.

I had a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. St Luke's conveyancing lawyers were chosen. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Santander?

Some lenders take longer than others. Have Santander conducted the survey? Have you advised Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in St Luke's. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Not long after, the solicitor contacted me to say that they were not on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Kent Reliance panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I have been told that property searches are the number one cause of hinderance in St Luke's conveyancing transactions. Is this right?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the most frequent causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in St Luke's.

I am buying a new build flat in St Luke's. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's

There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Please supply a car parking plan. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. St Luke's is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in St Luke's are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside St Luke's you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St Luke's may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.