As someone not used to conveyancing in Streatham Vale what is the number one tip you can impart concerning the legal transfer of property in Streatham Vale

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Streatham Vale and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of room for friction between you and other parties involved in the house moving process. For example, the vendor, property agent and even potentially a lender. Choosing a law firm for your conveyancing in Streatham Vale is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the process whose responsibility is to act in your legal interests and to keep you safe.

We are witnessing a definite ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be at fault for the process taking so long. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer ahead of all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

The Streatham Vale conveyancing solicitors that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Streatham Vale have suddenly closed. I chose them because I needed a firm on the RBS conveyancing panel and my previous Streatham Vale lawyer was not. I paid them £170 in advance. What are my options?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the RBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.

I am helping my aunt sell her house in Streatham Vale. Does the solicitor order an energy performance certificate or do I organise this?

After the abolition of Home Packs, EPC’s was left as a mandatory component of moving house. An energy assessment should be to hand in advance of the property being marketed. It is not something that solicitors ordinarily organise. Where you are using a Streatham Vale conveyancing solicitor they may be willing to arrange EPC’s given their contacts with reputable Streatham Vale assessors

I am purchasing a property in Streatham Vale. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Kent Reliance be concerned?

As your lender is Kent Reliance your lawyer must comply with the formal requirements set out in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Kent Reliance. The CML Handbook includes minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to Kent Reliance where a lease does not meet these requirements. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Streatham Vale.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Streatham Vale. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house are lost. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Streatham Vale 10 years ago have long since closed. What are my options?

You no longer need to have the physical original deeds to evidence that you are the registered proprietor of land or premises, as the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Streatham Vale. 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 legal work.

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

If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. 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. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. 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.