Our solicitor has identified a a problem with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Crystal Palace. The seller’s lawyers have put forward title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our property lawyer has advised that he must check that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?

Even though you have a mortgage offer from the bank does not mean to say that the property will meet their conditions for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. You and the lender are the client. The appropriate lender provisions have to be complied with.

Me and my partner are purchasing a house in Crystal Palace. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? On the day of competition we have to deposit our life savings into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our deposit?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

My wife and I are in the throws of viewing houses in Crystal Palace and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a lawyer in place at this stage? I am planning to take a home loan with UBS.

It would be advisable to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the EA. Given that you are taking out a mortgage with UBS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the UBS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

It is unclear whether my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Crystal Palace bank branch on a couple of occasions and was advised it wasn't a problem and they would lend. My Crystal Palace conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called and was told they refuse to lend in accordance with their published requirements. I have no idea who is right.

As long as the property lawyer is on the mortgage company approved list, they must follow the CML Handbook requirements for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.

I have todaybecome aware that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Crystal Palace for a purchase of a leasehold flat 10 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?

The quickest method to see if the property is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Crystal Palace conveyancing specialists.

I am buying my first flat in Crystal Palace benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The estate agent advised me not reveal to my solicitor about the side-deal as it would impact my loan with Barclays Direct. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Crystal Palace from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Crystal Palace can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
A minority of Crystal Palace leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors. You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Crystal Palace home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Crystal Palace leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such works. If you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.

Having spent years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Crystal Palace. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Crystal Palace premises is Flat 1 4 Border Crescent in March 2012. the Tribunal decided that the sum payable by the Applicants to the Respondent in respect of the new lease for the subject property should be £11,616.00 (ElevenThousand and Six Hundred and Sixteen Pounds) This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.04 years.