I am purchasing my first flat in South London with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The estate agent told me not inform my lawyer about this side-deal as it may adversely affect my loan with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I'm refinancing my existing home to a buy to let loan with Alliance & Leicester and intend to use the remaining equity towards another house. The area we are interested in is South London. Will your solicitors be able to act for both sets of banks and link together the conveyances?

Do use our comparison tool on this page to check that the conveyancers are approved by both lenders. Having checked that they are your lawyer should be able to tie up the two deals but you should have a chat with you conveyancer and specify your expectations and needs.

I am 3 weeks into a freehold purchase having been recommend to solicitors by the local agent to execute conveyancing in South London. I am am extremely disappointed with the level of service. Can you help me find new conveyancers?

A solicitor would have to be really poor in order to consider changing them. Has the mortgage offer been sent? If so you will need to inform them of the new lawyer and have the loan are re-sent. The solicitor ideally should be on the mortgage company panel to avoid escalating expenses and delays. So that should be your first question of the new solicitors. Our search tool can help you find a bank approved solicitor for your home move in South London

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in South London with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in South London can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ lawyers.
If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a South London conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later. If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in South London state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you dont have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a South London conveyancing firm to represent me?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a South London conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a South London flat is Flat B 10 Grove Avenue in October 2013. Following a vesting order Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court 3rd July 2013 The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the lease extension was £36,215.00 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 65.21 years.

Our lender agreed in principle to issue us a mortgage. We have retained a local conveyancer in South London last week. A couple of hours ago, our mortgage adviser phoned to advise us that the lender said that we cannot use our solicitor as they aren't on their panel. As FTB's, we did not have a clue that the mortgage company had a say Is this legal?

You can actually choose any lawyer you prefer to choose including the said conveyancer in South London nevertheless if your lender aren't happy with them you would have to pay additional cost so your lender can retain their own solicitors as well to protect their interest. sometimes it is possible your preferred conveyancing firm to get added to the lender panel. Do make the most of web-based search facilities including lenderpanel.com to find a conveyancing solcitor in South London on the mortgage company panel. You can go into your local bank branch in South London. They will know some good conveyancing solicitors in South London on the lender panel.