My partner and I are planning to acquire a flat in Herne Hill and have instructed a Herne Hill conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Leeds Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Herne Hill conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Herne Hill lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Herne Hill? Why is this being asked of me?

Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the ID of the potential client they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing instruction. The Client Care letter that you need to sign should reaffirm this. Your lender will also require certain documents to be checked. Where you refuse to supply ID verification documents, your lawyer can not take you on as a client.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on last month in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Herne Hill is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Herne Hill are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Herne Hill you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Herne Hill may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

My step-father has recommend that I instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Herne Hill. Should I use them?

There are no two ways about it it’s preferable to select a conveyancing practitioner is to get referrals from friends or relatives who have actually previously instructed the firm you're are thinking of instructing.

We are in the process of buying a flat in Herne Hill. Can the conveyancer keep the amount we are are buying for a secret from sites such as Rightmove. How can this be achieved ?

HMLR as a matter of law bound to reveal price paid data on the official title for domestic properties countrywide including homes in Herne Hill. The Title Register is a public document, so HM Land Registry would be breaking the law if they failed to allow access to the register.

In essence you can ask HM Land Registry to withhold the amount paid data however the answer would be in the negative.