As someone unfamiliar with conveyancing in Streatham what’s the number one tip you can impart concerning the ownership transfer in Streatham

Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Streatham or throughout South London is often a confrontational process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the home moving process. For instance, the vendor, estate agent and on occasion a mortgage company. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Streatham is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the legal process whose responsibility is to protect your best interests and to protect you.

We are witnessing a definite increase of a "blame" culture- someone has to be blamed for the process being so protracted. You should always trust your conveyancer above the other parties in the conveyancing process.

Should our lawyer be asking questions regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Streatham.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers specialising in conveyancing in Streatham. There are those who acquire a property in Streatham, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Lawyers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that may be undertaken by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which will figure out the risks in Streatham. The standard property information forms supplied to a buyer’s solicitor (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard inquiry of the owner to discover if the premises has suffered from flooding. If the premises has been flooded in past which is not revealed by the vendor, then a buyer may bring a claim for damages as a result of such an incorrect reply. The purchaser’s lawyers will also conduct an environmental report. This will disclose whether there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries should be conducted.

My wife and I purchased a renovated Georgian property in Streatham. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Streatham and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Streatham with a loan from Barclays . The developers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not reveal to my lawyer about the extras as it will adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.

Are there any apps to help search for a Streatham law firm on the Chelsea Building Society conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am prepared to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the lawyer.

You can use the search on this page. Please select a bank and your location and you will see a number of Streatham conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have listed some Streatham conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can telephone them to check if they are on the Chelsea Building Society approved list