I am acquiring a new build apartment in South Norwood and my lawyer is advising me that she has to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the builder. I am under pressure to sign contracts and I would rather not delay deal. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your . A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. South Norwood is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can give?

Flying freeholds in South Norwood are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside South Norwood you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in South Norwood may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

Should I instruct a South Norwood conveyancing practitioner in close proximity to the house I am buying? We have a good friend who can handle the legal work but her office is 200miles drive away.

The benefit of a high street South Norwood conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to sign paperwork, hand in your identification documents and pester them if necessary. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who used your friend and on the whole were happy that must outweigh using an unfamiliar South Norwood conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being local.

I have just started marketing my basement flat in South Norwood. Conveyancing has not commenced, but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you discharge the maintenance contribution as normal because all ground rent and maintenance payments should be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I own a 2 bed flat in South Norwood, conveyancing formalities finalised in 1995. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in South Norwood with an extended lease are worth £165,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease ceases on 21st October 50

With only 50 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £36,100 and £41,800 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Me and my partner are buying a leasehold maisonette in South Norwood. Conveyancing estimates are averaging around £1700. Is that in the right ballpark?

The average fee in 2014 for conveyancing in South Norwood was £1,395 excluding Land Tax and HM Land Registry fees.