My husband and I are planning to acquire a property in Knightsbridge and have appointed a Knightsbridge conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Knightsbridge lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Knightsbridge solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

My uncle passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Knightsbridge. The house had a small mortgage remaining of approximately £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to , pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?

Where you intend to refinance then will insist on your using a conveyancer on the conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am new to the house moving as a first time purchaser of a ground floor flat in Knightsbridge. Do I collect the keys to the premises on the completion date from my lawyer? If so, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Knightsbridge?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the purchase money to the owner’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you will be able to pick up the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. Usually this happens between 1 and 3pm.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with . I assume I don't need a Knightsbridge on the panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your 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 mortgage from the register. , 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 has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. has instructed the Land Registry to do so

have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a house in Knightsbridge has been agreed to, now what?

Your property agent will wish to be informed of your 's details (ensure that the are on the lender’s approved list). Telephone or your broker and finalise any outstanding paperwork. will appoint a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to schedule a time for the valuation to occur. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days to get a mortgage offer. will issue the offer to you and your . The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Knightsbridge.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Knightsbridge. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Knightsbridge

Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. 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. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?

Given that I will soon part with 450k on a garden flat in Knightsbridge I wish to talk to a solicitor regarding theconveyancing prior to appointing the firm. Can this be arranged?

This is something that we encourage - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the solicitor due to be doing your conveyancing in Knightsbridge.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is unique person, not a case reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are calculated and presented to you for residential conveyancing in Knightsbridge should be the figure that you end up paying.