My wife and I are purchasing a 2 bedroom flat in Old Malden with a mortgage. We have a Old Malden conveyancer, however the mortgage company advise she’s not on their "panel". It seems we have no option but to select one of the bank panel solicitors or retain our Old Malden and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This feels very unfair; are we not able to insist that the mortgage company use our Old Malden ?

Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Old Malden conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

AssumingI were to purchase a simple residential propertyin Old Malden mortgage fee and have no survey and no conveyancing searches how much could I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Old Malden?

Any savings you would make would be limited to the costs for searches. A is obliged to do the vast majority of work - money laundering, communicating with your sellers , SDLT return, register the property etc. You might save a bit for them not needing to register a mortgage however it won't be significant.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Old Malden. 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.

Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Old Malden

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. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. 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. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier?

There are only Fifty years remaining on my flat in Old Malden. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Old Malden.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Old Malden - Sample of Questions you should ask before buying

Who manages the block? It would be prudent to investigate if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Old Malden. If you love the apartmentin Old Malden however your dog can’t move with you then you will be faced hard choice. In the main the outlay for major works are not wrapped into the maintenance charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Old Malden require leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for major works.

What is the reason for my requiring numerous items of ID ahead of starting my conveyancing in Old Malden?

Old Malden s are required by the Law Society, SRA, the Land Registry and current AML legislation to record that the have verified the identity of their clients. It will also be a condition of your mortgage offer. In addition they have to complete various forms, particularly those relating to stamp duty land tax and need to have information such as your full names, NI number and DOB.