My husband and I have arranged the release of further funds on our mortgage from TSB as we want to carry out a loft conversion to our house in North Woolwich. Are we obliged to select a nearby North Woolwich solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

TSB do not ordinarily require firms on their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the TSB list.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in North Woolwich. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £150. Not long after, the solicitor contacted me to say that they were not on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Yorkshire BS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Clydesdale have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a house in North Woolwich has been agreed to, what are the next steps?

The property agent will want to be informed of your conveyancer's details (make sure the solicitors are on the lender’s approved list). Telephone Clydesdale or the broker and finish off any relevant forms. Clydesdale will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or vendor to schedule a time for the valuation to happen. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average ten days to get a mortgage offer. Clydesdale will send the offer to you and your solicitors. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in North Woolwich.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in North Woolwich?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in North Woolwich. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

About to purchase a new build apartment in North Woolwich. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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 few leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in North Woolwich

Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier?

I am looking for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one close by in North Woolwich I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in North Woolwich suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?

Should you need a mortgage that many years will likely be an issue. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.

My estate agent has recommended their conveyancer for the conveyancing in North Woolwich - Surely it’s better to just use them?

It is worth checking if the estate agent is recommending a solicitor or introducing to a conveyancing practitioner. There are plenty of North Woolwich estate agents who recommend two or three North Woolwich conveyancing firms and get nothing from it.