My solicitor has discovered a defect with the lease for the flat we are buying in Surrey. The other side have offered defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our solicitor has advised that he must be satisfied that the mortgage company is willing to move forward with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the mortgage company ?

The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your property lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

As a FTB what is the most important piece of guidance you can impart concerning purchase conveyancing in Surrey?

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Surrey or throughout England and Wales is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of room for friction between you and others involved in the home moving process. E.g., the vendor, property agent and sometimes the mortgage company. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Surrey an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the process whose responsibility is to protect your legal interests and to protect you.

Sometimes a potential adversary may attempt to convince you that it is in your interests to do things their way. For example, the property agent may claim to be helping by claiming that your conveyancer is slow. Or your financial adviser may tell you to do take action that is contrary to your lawyers guidance. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

A colleague advised me that if I am buying in Surrey I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your Surrey conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Surrey around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Surrey Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Surrey Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Surrey.

It has been five months following my purchase conveyancing in Surrey completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £170,000. 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 premises 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.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Surrey. Conveyancing is necessary evil 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 is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Surrey

Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? 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. 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 the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal.