What happens if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Clydesdale Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Mottingham?

The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.

My wife and I are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our house in Mottingham and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. Any high street Mottingham conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers are using a web based conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Mottingham. Having lived in Mottingham for three years we know that this is a non issue. Do we contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation that there is no issue.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. Are they able to advise? You should 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)

It has been four months following my purchase conveyancing in Mottingham completed. 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 residence 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.

I'm buying a new build house in Mottingham with a loan from Halifax. The developers would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative told me not to tell my conveyancer about the deal as it will jeopardize my mortgage with Halifax. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one close by in Mottingham I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Mottingham for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

If you require a mortgage that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.