In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Forest Hill? Why is this being asked of me?

To satisfy the Money Laundering Regulations any Forest Hill conveyancing firm will require proof of identity in all conveyancing matters. This is usually dealt with by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility bill showing your correct address.

Under Money Laundering Regulations, property lawyers are obliged by law to investigate not only the ID of conveyancing clients but also the source of monies that they receive in respect of any matter. An unwillingness to disclose this will lead to your solicitor terminating their relationship with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.

Your conveyancers are duty bound to make a disclosure to the appropriate authorities should they believe that any monies received by them may contravene the Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules.

My wife and I are at the point of looking at flats in Forest Hill and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a property lawyer in place at this stage? I will be getting a home loan with Skipton.

It would be advisable to instigate your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the estate agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Skipton, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Skipton conveyancing panel.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Forest Hill. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £175. A couple of days later, the conveyancing practitioner 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.

After what feels like an age I have had an offer on a maisonette in Forest Hill accepted, but there is a chain. The owners have offered on a property, however it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have chosen a high street conveyancing solicitor in Forest Hill. What should be my next step? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with Leeds Building Society?

It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Forest Hill conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you should check that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Leeds Building Society approved list. Regarding the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market the majority of home buyers would apply for a home loan with Leeds Building Society and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their conveyancer to proceed with the conveyancing in Forest Hill.

I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Forest Hill. I now require my file however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Forest Hill of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Forest Hill I like with amenity areas and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Forest Hill in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?

If you need a mortgage that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

Been searching for a conveyancing practitioner for freehold sale conveyancing in Forest Hill. I'm selling, simple no mortgage to pay off, no rush, no onward chain. Received a quote from a property lawyer for a thousand pounds including VAT which is a tad expensive given that its so straightforward. Can I pay less for conveyancing in Forest Hill?

As it’s a sale only, £450 + VAT would be about the cheapest for a Forest Hill solicitor firm.