I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in South London. My lender is Platform

Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 3/3/2025, the requirements read as follows :

Is it the case that all South London solicitors on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?

As solicitors, in order to be on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel they would need to be governed by the SRA. Some banks do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

I am purchasing a property in South London. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Nationwide be concerned?

As your lender is Nationwide your lawyer must comply with the formal instructions contained in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Nationwide. The CML Handbook stipulates minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to Nationwide where a lease fails to satisfy these requirements. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not limited to South London.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in South London. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £200. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me to say that they were not on the RBS 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 RBS 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.

I have recentlyfound out that Stirling Law have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in South London for a purchase of a freehold house 9 months ago. How can I check that my home is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?

The quickest method to check if the property is in your name, 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 South London conveyancing specialists.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in South London with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in South London can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. Many freeholders or Management Companies in South London charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in South London. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in South London state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you dont have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor first. If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.

After months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in South London. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to calculate the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a South London residence is Flat B 10 Grove Avenue in October 2013. Following a vesting order Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court 3rd July 2013 The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the lease extension was £36,215.00 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 65.21 years.

We are hoping to acquire a repossessed flat in South London and the vendor require completion within a week. Do conveyancing practitioners complete in this timeframe? Would it be better to use a local South London firm or an online firm that advertises to offer speedy conveyancing?

Attend your South London high street. Pop in to two or three companies and request to talk to a conveyancing solicitor for an estimate. Discuss your needs and try and obtain a commitment on speed. Choose the one that comes across as most trustworthy. Be sure to choose a lawyer on the list of solicitors who can act for your lender.