I am acquiring a house for cash in Nunhead. I have resided for the last 20 years in Nunhead. Conveyancing searches are expensive. As I know the area and road very well must I have all the conveyancing searches?

Provided that you do not need a mortgage, then all but one or two of the Nunhead conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches completed, but she is duty bound to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are intend to sell the house one day, it could be of importance to your prospective purchaser what the searches contain. There are plenty of instances where houses with no practical issues can still show up detrimental search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Nunhead should provide you some helpful guidance here.

I purchased a freehold house in Nunhead yet charged rent, why is this and what is this?

It’s unusual for properties in Nunhead and has limited impact for conveyancing in Nunhead but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.

Previous rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 is to be extinguished.

What happens if my solicitor is suspended from the Leeds Building Society Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Nunhead?

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.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Nunhead?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Nunhead. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I am buying my first flat in Nunhead with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not inform my lawyer about this side-deal as it could put at risk my loan with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.

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.