How up to date is your database of Thamesmead solicitors on the RBS conveyancing panel? Do RBS send you an updated list?

Thamesmead conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the RBS conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from RBS directly.

I have paid off my mortgage with Nationwide. I assume I don't need a Thamesmead lawyer on the Nationwide panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?

If you have finished paying off your Nationwide mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Nationwide mortgage from the register. Nationwide, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Nationwide has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Nationwide has instructed the Land Registry to do so

About to purchase flat in Thamesmead. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Thamesmead property lawyer is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.

My sealed bid on a detached house in Thamesmead has been accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have put an offer on somewhere, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have instructed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Thamesmead. What should be my next step? When do I get the mortgage application with RBS going?

It is normal to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Thamesmead conveyancing search charges, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your property lawyer is on the RBS approved list. As to the next steps this very much depends on the circumstances of your transaction, motivation for the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market the majority of home buyers would apply for a home loan with RBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their property lawyer to move forward with searches.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Thamesmead. 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 legal work.

Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Thamesmead

Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? 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. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? 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.

I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Thamesmead both have in the region of fifty years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Thamesmead. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Thamesmead. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Thamesmead flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76 years.

My partner and I have recently had an offer accepted on a house and had meeting on Friday with HSBC for the mortgage. They warned us that when it comes to selecting a solicitor that unless they are on their approved list of property lawyers then we will be subject to an an additional fee of £200. This is is due to the fact that they would then have to instruct a property lawyer to act on their behalf in addition to the one we choose to act on our behalf and we assume responsibility for their invoice. I have asked HSBC to furnish me with a list so I can obtain estimates only from their approved solicitors but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is their an easier way of going about this?

You should ask HSBC what their panel criteria is for a solicitor.Then ask the conveyancer of your choice whether they meet the criteria and have they acted on loans for HSBC before. If the answer to those is yes, then just double check with HSBC. Alternatively please make use of our search facility and we should be able to identify a solicitor in Thamesmead on the panel for HSBC.