Forgive me if this question is silly but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a ground floor flat in Belvedere. Do I collect the keys to the premises on completion from my lawyer? If so, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Belvedere?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be invited to receive the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.

I have been advised by my lawyer that missing deeds insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Belvedere?

The right level of missing deeds indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between HSBC Bank and Virgin Money. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.

is it true that all Belvedere solicitor practices on the Nationwide conveyancing panel are governed by the SRA?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such practice would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

Given that I will soon part with £400,000 on a terraced house in Belvedere I wish to have a conversation with the solicitor concerning thehouse move in advance of instructing the firm. Can this be arranged?

We could not agree more - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the solicitor who will be carrying out your conveyancing in Belvedere.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is an important individual, not a matter reference. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are calculated and presented to you for residential conveyancing in Belvedere should be the figure that you end up paying.

As co-executor for the estate of my aunt I am selling a property in Swansea but live in Belvedere. My solicitor (approximately 300 kilometers from merequires that I sign a statutory declaration ahead of the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing practitioner in Belvedere who can witness this legal document for me?

Technically speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are located in Belvedere

Jane (my partner) and I may need to let out our Belvedere basement flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Belvedere conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Belvedere conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain permission from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I own a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Belvedere. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium due for a lease extension?

Where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Belvedere property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 76 years.

I note that you have a post code search directory listing firms on the bank conveyancing panel. Do Belvedere conveyancing companies pay you a commission if I appoint them for my house purchase?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the lender conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Belvedere.