My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a flat in King's Cross and are in fact using a King's Cross conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Skipton Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our King's Cross solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own King's Cross solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

4 months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in King's Cross concluded. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £215,000. 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.

About to purchase a new build apartment in King's Cross. 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 conveyancing.

Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in King's Cross

Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £305k and found one near me in King's Cross I like with open areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in King's Cross for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

As co-executor for the estate of my aunt I am disposing of a house in Cardiff but I am based in King's Cross. My solicitor (based 200 kilometers from merequires that I execute a statutory declaration ahead of completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing practitioner in King's Cross who can attest this legal document for me?

Technically speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are King's Cross based