My husband and I are purchasing a leasehold flat in Beddington South. My property lawyer is not listed on the lender conveyancing list. Can I still appoint my Beddington South conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the bank panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?

You have a number of options open to you here

• Proceed with your existing Beddington South conveyancing practitioner but your lender will no doubt appoint a conveyancing practitioner on their approved panel. The net result is additional cost together with likely interruption.
• Appoint a fresh lawyer to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Convince your property lawyer to attempt to join the lender panel

It is a dozen years since I purchased my home in Beddington South. Conveyancing solicitors have now been appointed on the sale but I can't locate my title deeds. Is this a major issue?

You need not be too concerned. Firstly the deeds may be kept by the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the conveyancers who acted in your purchase. Secondly the chances are that the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Beddington South involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it is more problematic but is not insurmountable.

My apartment in Beddington South is up for sale and I have a purchaser. Will the conveyancing practitioner have to be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Nationwide conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently at the moment.

What does a local search tell me about the house my wife and I purchasing in Beddington South?

Beddington South conveyancing often starts with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for instance Searchflow The local search plays a central role in many a Beddington South conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your property. The search should reveal information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject headings.

How does conveyancing in Beddington South differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build premises in Beddington South come to us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is completed. This is because developers in Beddington South typically purchase the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Beddington South or who has acted in the same development.