I was recommended to a solicitor who has quoted £1350 for no sale no fee conveyancing in South East London. I am selling a modern detached home for £300,000. This appears expensive. Is it above the average fee for conveyancing in South East London?

The charges are a tad high. Where you are content to expend time scrutinising fee on a like for like basis you could decrease the fees slightly by as much as £125. On the other hand, you maylive to regret choosing an an unknown solicitor. Remember to ensure the solicitor can also act for your mortgage company. Do employ our search tool to select a South East London conveyancing company on the banks member panel which can often include conveyancing solicitors in South East London.

I am need of leasehold conveyancing for a flat in a fairly new development (6 years old) in South East London. Almost all the properties are already sold. Do I need carry out the conveyancing searches for my conveyancing in South East London?

You would be opening yourself up to an unnecessary risk in refusing to carrying out South East London conveyancing searches. Without searches you have no clarity over flooding, environmental etc which may mean you walk away due to potential problems down the line. If you are buying without a mortgage there is no legal requirement to have them, but we would strongly advise in no uncertain terms that you have them. Where timings and expenses are primary issues you should consider with your lawyer about the options such as indemnity insurance available to you

Finally the sale completed on my house in South East London last July but our buyer keeps e-mailing every few hours complaining that his solicitor needs to hear from myconveyancer. What are the post completion sale legalities now that I have sold?

After completion of your sale your lawyer is duty bound to forward the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. Depending on the transaction, your conveyancer must also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been redeemed to the buyers solicitors. There are no post completion procedures peculiar conveyancing in South East London.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in South East London I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in South East London in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?

If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

Can you set out the nature of conveyancing provided by South East London conveyancing firms?

By and large South East London conveyancing practices can provide a wide array of services to residential and rural land proprietors, sellers, purchasers, landlords and leaseholders and you can expect them to do some of the following services:

Standard residential sale conveyancing in South East London or nationwide House purchase conveyancing in South East London and further afield Non-contentious landlord & tenant matters Staircasing i.e. buying extra shares of a property that has been purchased through a shared ownership scheme Estate Conveyancing Enfranchisement - including collective acquisitions of freeholds and lease extensions