My best friend’s sister is a conveyancing practitioner. I hope that I'll be able to get friends and family fee for conveyancing, but if not, what level of figure should I be expecting for conveyancing in St Luke's?

You should contrast pricing. Do use our comparison tool on this site. Whilst quotes do be different but the service one can expect are distinct between solicitors as is true with the vast majority of professional services.

It is is a decade since I acquired my property in St Luke's. Conveyancing solicitors have just been instructed on the sale but I can't find my deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?

Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be with your mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the lawyers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers procuring current official copies of the land registers. Most conveyancing in St Luke's involves registered property but in the rare situation where your home is unregistered it is more of a problem but is not insurmountable.

Various internet forums that I have come across warn that are a common cause of obstruction in St Luke's conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to feature in any slowing down conveyancing in St Luke's.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one near me in St Luke's I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in St Luke's suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

My husband and I have agreed a price on a St Luke's ground floor flat left to us six years ago in 2010. I have over 12 years conveyancing know-how and, although retired, wish to conduct the conveyancing. The buyer's conveyancing practitioner has informed me that their Lenders will not allow us to do our own conveyancing mandating that the funds to be passed via a solicitor's bank account.

Mortgage requirements to solicitors from all CML members specify that If the vendor is not legally represented the buyer’s lawyers should check whether the mortgage company needs to be informed so that a decision can be reached if they are prepared to proceed.