As a FTB what is the most important piece of guidance you can impart regarding purchase conveyancing in Queen's Park?

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Queen's Park and elsewhere in North West London is often a confrontational experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of room for conflict between you and others involved in the transaction. E.g., the vendor, property agent and sometimes a lender. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Queen's Park is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the transaction whose interest is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.

We are witnessing a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be at fault for the process being so protracted. You should always trust your conveyancer ahead of the other parties when it comes to the legal assignment of property.

It has been 4 months since my purchase conveyancing in Queen's Park completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 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 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 decided to have a survey done on a house in Queen's Park before retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders may refuse to issue a mortgage on such a house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Queen's Park. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £125,000 apartment in Queen's Park in seven days. The managing agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Queen's Park?

Queen's Park conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates fees being invoiced by landlords agents :

Addressing pre-exchange enquiries Where consent is required before sale in Queen's Park Copies of the building insurance and schedule Deeds of covenant upon sale Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Queen's Park leasehold property is £350. For Queen's Park conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide the information.

After months of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Queen's Park. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Queen's Park conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Queen's Park flat is 4 & 4A Charteris Road in June 2009. the Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the enfranchisement of 4/4a Charteris Road to be £15,510 for at 4and £15,694 for at 4a This case was in relation to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 70.02 years.

Why is New Build conveyancing in Queen's Park more expensive?

Buying a new build home is completely different from the normal house purchase conveyancing in Queen's Park. Firstly developers normally insist contracts to exchange within a tight deadline, so there is a a great deal of pressure on your lawyer to ensure all is in order. Furthermore new build premises often involve the checking of adoption of highways, drains, planning considerations, building warranties or architects certificates. Mortgage company obligations are also more demanding. Given the complex nature of the process for these types of properties, the conveyancing new build fees are higher than normal.