I am acquiring a property without a mortgage in Sydenham Hill. I have been living for the last 20 years in Sydenham Hill. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. As I know the road and vicinity intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

Provided that you do not need a home loan, then almost all of the Sydenham Hill conveyancing searches are optional. Your conveyancer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but she is duty bound to do this. One thing to take into account; if you are intend to dispose of the house one day, it will likely be be of relevance to your future buyer what the searches disclose. On occasion properties with apparent issues can still show up detrimental search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Sydenham Hill will provide you some constructive advice concerning this.

As a FTB what is the most important piece of guidance you can give me regarding purchase conveyancing in Sydenham Hill?

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Sydenham Hill and elsewhere in England and Wales is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. For instance, the vendor, estate agent and on occasion the mortgage company. Selecting a lawyer for your conveyancing in Sydenham Hill should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the legal process whose responsibility is to act in your legal interests and to protect you.

There is a distinct creep in the "blame" culture- someone has to be blamed for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor ahead of the other players in the home moving process.

is it true that all Sydenham Hill solicitor firms on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel are governed by the SRA?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Leeds Building Society approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the SRA. Many lenders do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be governed by the CLC.

I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Sydenham Hill. I have a mortgage agreed with UBS. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with UBS, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the UBS conveyancing panel.

The mortgage over my property is with Coventry BS for my property in Sydenham Hill. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Coventry BS?

Coventry BS must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Coventry BS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Coventry BS will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Coventry BS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Coventry BS conveyancing panel lawyer.

About to purchase a new build flat in Sydenham Hill. Conveyancing is daunting 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.

Here are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Sydenham Hill

Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Please supply a car parking plan. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company?

I am looking for a flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Sydenham Hill I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it only has 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Sydenham Hill suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a mortgage that many years will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.