I have given 2 months notice to my current landlord and must vacate my rented property in Archway by 6/1/2025. Conveyancing for my house purchase has just started. Is it possible to complete in three weeks as I wish to avoid having to find short term accommodation?

It is unwise to give notice on a rental until your lawyer suggests that you should. Assuming that you have not previously done so, speak to your solicitor and urge them to they chase the sellers solicitors, try to get a realistic time scale from them that all parties will work to achieve

Should our lawyer be making enquiries concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Archway.

Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers conducting conveyancing in Archway. Some people will purchase a house in Archway, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.

Solicitors are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, however there are a number of checks that can be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should give them a better appreciation of the risks in Archway. The standard property information forms supplied to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a usual question of the vendor to find out whether the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the property has been flooded in past which is not revealed by the seller, then a purchaser could commence a claim for damages as a result of such an inaccurate reply. A purchaser’s conveyancers may also commission an environmental search. This should reveal whether there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries will need to be carried out.

I used Arc property Solicitors a few years past for my conveyancing in Archway. Now, I need the documents but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Archway of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I was pointed in your direction by a number of selling agents in Archway to select a property lawyer using your seach tool. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to market your site over another?

We refuse to give any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand a fee because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

I am an executor of my recently deceased mum’s Will, with a property in Archway which is to be marketed. The house is unregistered at HMLR and I'm advised that some estate agents will insist that it is done before they will proceed. What's the procedure for this?

In the situation that you have set out it seems prudent to apply to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. HMLR’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and official copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.