Is it the case that all Kew CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the TSB conveyancing panel?

A selection of banks and building societies now use CQS as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to join their panels.

is it true that all Kew conveyancing solicitors on the Nationwide conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?

As solicitors, in order to be on the Nationwide approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of banks do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

Intending to buy a flat in Kew. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Kew lawyer is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel.

I am selling our home in Kew and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. A high street Kew lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used a national conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Kew. We have lived in Kew for 5 years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to get in touch with our local Authority to obtain clarification that there is no issue.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer already. Are they able to advise? You need to check with 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 health insurance to cover that same ailment)

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Kew. Conveyancing is daunting 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.

Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Kew

Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one near me in Kew I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Kew for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.

I was told by my lender that their approved solicitors work on no completion no fee basis for conveyancing in Kew. I had a purchase abort yet the conveyancers want search fees! They are stating that the fees are independent!

By offering "no move no fee" Kew conveyancing lawyers are foregoing their fees for any work carried out. We should point out that this is NOT an insurance scheme. you will still need to pay for any disbursements that your conveyancer has incurred on your behalf for example Kew local authority searches