Finally the sale completed on my house in Clapham last September but our buyer keeps telephoning every few hours to moan that their solicitor is waiting to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale formalities following completion?

After completion of your disposal your lawyer is duty bound to forward the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. If applicable, your solicitor must also evidence that the home loan has been paid off to the buyers lawyers. There is unlikely to be post completion tasks specific conveyancing in Clapham.

Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Clapham. My lender is Platform

Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 4/2/2026, the requirements read as follows :

We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Principality as we intend to conduct renovations to our property in Clapham. Are we obliged to appoint a local Clapham solicitor on the Principality conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?

Principality do not ordinarily instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Principality conveyancing panel.

I'm in the throws of looking at apartments in Clapham and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a solicitor appointed at this stage? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Skipton.

It would be prudent to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the estate agent. Given that you are seeking a mortgage with Skipton, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Skipton conveyancing panel.

After shopping around on the internet I have found a Clapham property lawyer having checked that they are on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Virgin Money will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Virgin Money 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. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Clapham postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Virgin Money, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Clapham.

I need some fast conveyancing in Clapham as I am under pressure to sign on the dotted line within one month. A mortgage is not required. Can I avoid the conveyancing searches to save money and time?

As you are are a cash buyer you have the choice not to do searches although no solicitor would suggest that you don't. With plenty of history conveyancing in Clapham the following are instances of issues that can appear and adversely affect market value: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Fees, Outstanding Grants, Road Schemes,...

My 20yr old son is embarking on her first house purchase, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. When the offer was accepted on apartment we called the building society to issue the formal offer. We were very surprised to discover that mortgage companies do not accept all property lawyer, they have to be on a list, is this correct?

Banks normally restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing firms on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Clapham lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.