We are buying a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Camden Town. The intention is to carry out a loft conversion at the house.Will legal investigations on the property involve investigations to determine if these works are prohibited?

Your property lawyer should review the deeds as conveyancing in Camden Town will occasionally reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit certain alterations or require the permission of another owner. Certain additions require local authority planning permissions and approval in accordance building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with HSBC. I assume I don't need a Camden Town property lawyer on the HSBC panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?

If you have finished paying off your HSBC mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the HSBC mortgage from the register. HSBC, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where HSBC has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. HSBC has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I've read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Camden Town solicitor - who is on the HSBC conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?

HSBC will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually HSBC will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Camden Town postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with HSBC, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Camden Town.

four months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Camden Town took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

How does conveyancing in Camden Town differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build residence in Camden Town come to us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is completed. This is because house builders in Camden Town tend to buy 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 conveyancers 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Camden Town or who has acted in the same development.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in Camden Town I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Camden Town in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.

I own a leasehold house in Camden Town. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Camden Town who acted for me is not around. Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Camden Town conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I have given up seeking a lease extension in Camden Town. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the price.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Camden Town premises is Flat 120, Clare Court Judd Street in August 2013. the Tribunal held that the premium to be paid for the extension of the lease should be £64,650 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 62.79 years.