We went with a high street solicitor for our conveyancing in East Finchley last week. Reviewing the Ts and Cs I seewe are liable for fees even if our purchase aborts. Should I ditch them and use a web based firm advertising no-sale-no-fee conveyancing in East Finchley?

It is usually ‘give and take’ in that if "No Sale No Fee" is offered then the conveyancing charges will tend to be be higher to neutralise the conveyances that abort. Dont forget that these promotions rarely cover expenses such your East Finchley conveyancing search fees.

I am being told by my solicitor that chancel insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for East Finchley conveyancing?

The right level of chancel indemnity insurance depends on who your lender is. It would differ for example between HSBC Bank and Chelsea Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.

We previously selected solicitors with offices in East Finchley on the Santander solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a separate amount for dealing with the Santander mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Santander?

As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your solicitor may levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Santander but by your East Finchley solicitor. Some firms on the Santander panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many practices incorporate it on their overall fee.

My partner and I are in the process of looking at apartments in East Finchley and I am about to put in an offer. Is it best to have a solicitor on ‘stand by’? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Bank of Ireland.

You should start obtaining conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the EA. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel.

A relative suggested that if I am purchasing in East Finchley I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your East Finchley conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about East Finchley around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning East Finchley.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in East Finchley. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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 are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in East Finchley

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. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Please supply a car parking plan. 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.

Am I better off to go with a East Finchley conveyancing practitioner based in the location that I am buying? An old friend can execute the conveyancing however her office is a couple of hundredmiles away.

The primary upside of using a high street East Finchley conveyancing practice is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, deliver your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local knowledge which is a bonus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust used your friend and the majority were happy that must surpass using an unfamiliar East Finchley conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being based in the area.