I just bought a property at auction in Lambeth. Conveyancing is needed. What is next?

Given that you have now exchanged you must instruct a conveyancing solicitor soon as you are faced with a tight a fixed date to complete the conveyancing. An auction property will ordinarily have an associated legal set of papers. This should include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. In the case of leasehold premises the auction pack should contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork specific to leasehold premises. You need to give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor ASAP. You also need to ensure that you have funds in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

We had chosen solicitors based in Lambeth on the Coventry BS solicitor panel. They are now charging me a supplemental amount for handling the Coventry BS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Coventry BS?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your solicitor may charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by Coventry BS but by your Lambeth solicitor. Numerous firms on the Coventry BS panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some practices incorporate it on their overall fee.

After shopping around on the internet I have found a Lambeth conveyancer having made sure that they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?

Bank of Ireland will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Bank of Ireland will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your solicitor will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Lambeth postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Lambeth.

3 months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Lambeth completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am buying a new build apartment in Lambeth. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Lambeth

If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.

Should I go with a Lambeth conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can perform the legal formalities but her office is 400kilometers away.

The primary upside of using a local Lambeth conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute documents, present your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local Lambeth know how is a bonus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have used your friend and they were impressed that should surpass using an unfamiliar Lambeth conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being Lambeth based.

I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Lambeth. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge the maintenance contribution as you normally would because all rents and maintenance invoices should be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am the leaseholder of a ground floor flat in Lambeth. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Lambeth conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Lambeth flat is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 56 years.