Me and my partner are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in Southfields with a mortgage. We like our Southfields solicitor, however the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have little option but to select one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or keep our Southfields conveyancer and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We regard this is inequitable; can we not require that the bank use our Southfields lawyer ?

Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Southfields conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

We are selling our home in Southfields. Will my solicitor need to be required to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the HSBC conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently at the moment.

My wife and I buying a 3 bedroom semi in Southfields. We would like to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will legal work on the property include investigations to ascertain if these alterations were previously refused?

Your solicitor will review the deeds as conveyancing in Southfields will sometimes reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prevent categories of alterations or require the permission of a 3rd party. Certain additions call for local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Many areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

My husband and I have arranged the release of further monies on our mortgage from Clydesdale as we want to conduct a loft conversion to our home in Southfields. Do we need to appoint a high street Southfields solicitor on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?

Clydesdale don't usually require a member of 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 Clydesdale list.

I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Southfields. I have a mortgage offer with Barclays. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Barclays, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel.

I have been told that property searches are the main reason for delay in Southfields conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to feature in any slowing down conveyancing in Southfields.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Southfields. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Having spent months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Southfields. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Southfields conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Southfields premises is 83 Balvernie Grove in February 2012. The Tribunal assessed the price to be paid by the leaseholder to the freeholder for the lease extension pursuant to section 48 of the Leasehold Reform Housing & Urban Development Act 1993 should be£16,603.00 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 69.32 years.