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Find a South East London Conveyancing Solictior on Your Lender’s Panel

Ready to buy a new home in South East London? Failing to check that a lawyer is on your lender’s list of approved solicitors can put your South East London home move at risk of delay or failure.

Only LenderPanel.com provides a subset of authorised South East London conveyancers for over 130 lenders.


Recently asked questions about conveyancing in South East London

I am in the process of selling my ground floor flat in South East London and the estate agent has just e-mailed to advise that the purchasers are switching law firm. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a major lender only work with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in South East London ?

Lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for over 25 years.

Mortgage companies blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.

The sellers of the home we are looking to purchase are using a conveyancing practitioner in South East London who has suggested a lock out agreement with a non-refundable deposit 6,000. Are such agreements promoted for South East London conveyancing transactions?

There are a couple of primary concerns with entering into any lock out agreement (occasionally referred to as a no-shop agreement) is that it diverts attention away from moving forward with the conveyancing process, so unless it requires little or no negotiation then it could transpire to be a cause of frustration and delay. It is not particularly popular by South East London conveyancing solicitors for this reason. A supplemental issue is the extent of the remedies available - a jilted purchaser is not likely to secure an injunctive ruling by a court to stop the vendor selling to a third party, so the only remedy available under the agreement will be the reimbursement of abortive costs and, in limited situations, the additional payment of penalties.

I am assisting my sister sell her property in South East London. Will the conveyancing solicitor commission an energy performance certificate or it is for me to see to?

Following the demise of Home Packs, EPC’s became a mandatory element of selling a property. An energy assessment must be to hand before the property is advertised. It is not something that lawyers ordinarily arrange. Where you are instructing a South East London conveyancing practitioner they may help arrange energy performance certificates due to their relationships with reputable local assessors

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in South East London. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?

Now that you have to in every practical sense signed on the dotted line you must choose a conveyancing solicitor as a matter of priority as you now have a tight a fixed date to complete the deal. An auction property should have an associated auction set of papers. This will likely include most,if not all of the documents that your lawyer requires. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the legal pack may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork specific to a leasehold property. You need to hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. You also need to ensure that your finances are in order to complete on the on the contractual date .

Can I be sure that the South East London conveyancing solicitor on the Principality panel is any good?

When it comes to conveyancing in South East London obtaining recommendations is a good start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always suggest that you speak with the solicitor conducting your transaction.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in South East London. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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 questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in South East London

    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? The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in South East London. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in South East London - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in South East London. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to assess the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a South East London premises is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 73.26 years.

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