My property lawyer in West Wickham is not on the Platform Home Loans Ltd Solicitor Panel. Can I still use my family solicitor even though they are not on the Platform Home Loans Ltd approved list?

Your options are as follows:

1. Complete the purchase with your preferred West Wickham lawyers but Platform Home Loans Ltd will need to instruct a conveyancer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the total conveyancing fees as well as cause frustration.
2. Choose an alternative lawyer to act in the conveyancing, remembering to check they are Convince your solicitor to do everything within their powers to join the Platform Home Loans Ltd conveyancing panel

We are buying a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in West Wickham. The intention is to convert the garage to an office at the house.Will the conveyancing process include enquiries to ascertain if these alterations are permitted?

Your conveyancer should review the registered title as conveyancing in West Wickham can on occasion identify restrictions in the title documents which restrict certain alterations or require the consent of a 3rd party. Some extensions need local authority planning consent and approval in accordance building regulations. Many areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. It would be wise to check these issues with a surveyor before you commit yourself to a purchase.

Is it the case that all West Wickham solicitor firms on the Nationwide conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the SRA. Some mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be governed by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local West Wickham solicitor - who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own West Wickham surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I'm converting the mortgage on my primary property to a buy to let mortgage with HSBC Bank and I will use the ballance of the raised equity as a down payment on a second property. The area we are talking about is West Wickham. Will your solicitors be able to act for the two banks and link together the two deals?

Do use our comparison tool on this site to check that the conveyancers are approved by both lenders. Having checked that they are your conveyancer will be able to tie up the two transactions but you should talk with you solicitor and make apparent your expectations and needs.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in West Wickham. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in West Wickham - 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 attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a West Wickham conveyancing firm to assist?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a West Wickham residence is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 76.75 and 88.83.

Are you able to clarify the nature of conveyancing undertaken by West Wickham conveyancing organisations?

Generally most West Wickham conveyancing practices will offer a broad array of legal advice to home and land owners, sellers, investors, landlords and tenants such as:

House sale conveyancing in West Wickham or wider afield House purchase conveyancing in West Wickham and beyond ‘Buy to let’ and investment property issues Probate sale conveyancing Plot sales whether they are freehold or leasehold Helping tenants collectively buy their freehold (Collective Enfranchisement) including setting up the necessary companies