My wife and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Thames Ditton and have instructed a Thames Ditton conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Britannia have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Thames Ditton solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?

If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Thames Ditton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

My son is in the process of securing a house that has just been built in Thames Ditton with a mortgage from Virgin Money. His solicitor has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?

The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.

My uncle pointed out to me me that in purchasing a property in Thames Ditton there may be various restrictions preventing external changes to a property. Is this right?

We are aware of a number of properties in Thames Ditton which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Thames Ditton should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I am being told by my conveyancer that absentee landlord insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Thames Ditton?

The right level of absentee landlord indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Santander and Barnsley Building Society. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.

I'm the single recipient of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Thames Ditton. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in October. I plan to dispose of the property. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship will be regarded the same way as if I'd bought the property in October. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be impacted by that. How sensible a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this clause is principally there to pick up on subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of property.

Should our lawyer be raising questions concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Thames Ditton.

Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Thames Ditton. There are those who buy a property in Thames Ditton, fully expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or dispose of the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.

Lawyers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, but there are a number of searches that can be initiated by the purchaser or by their lawyers which can figure out the risks in Thames Ditton. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms supplied to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a usual question of the seller to determine if the premises has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred which is not notified by the vendor, then a purchaser may issue a claim for damages stemming from an misleading reply. The purchaser’s lawyers may also carry out an enviro report. This will higlight if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further investigations should be initiated.

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Thames Ditton. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Thames Ditton - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Following months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Thames Ditton. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Thames Ditton residence is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case affected 1 flat.