Me and my wife are acquiring a leasehold flat in Greenwich. My lawyer is not on the lender solicitor list. Can I still retain my Greenwich conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the lender panel?

Your options include

• Carry on with your preferred Greenwich solicitor but your mortgage company will undoubtedly instruct a conveyancing practitioner on their approved list. The net result is additional fees and potential delay.
• Choose a new solicitor to conduct the conveyancing, making sure they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
• Convince your conveyancing practitioner to seek to join the lender panel

What happens if my solicitor is expelled from the Clydesdale Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Greenwich?

The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.

I need some quick conveyancing in Greenwich as I am faced with pressure to complete inside 3 weeks. A home loan is not required. Is it possible to decline from having conveyancing searches to save money and time?

As you are not obtaining a mortgage you are at free not to do searches although no conveyancer would recommend that you don't. Drawing on years of experience of conveyancing in Greenwich the following are examples of issues that can show up and therefore affect future mortgageability: Refused Planning Applications, Outstanding Charges, Outstanding Grants, Railway Schemes,...

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. Greenwich is where the house is located. Can you offer any advice?

Flying freeholds in Greenwich are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Greenwich you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Greenwich may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

Fiveweeks into buying a property in Greenwich. Conveyancing solicitor has phoned to say the title is "Leasehold". Should this impact our Natwest valuation?

Greenwich conveyancing does not normally involve leasehold houses. The main consideration here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a nominal rent, it's almost the same as freehold, so it’s unlikely to impact the saleability significantly.

On the flip side, if it's, say, Sixty years it is bound to have a material impact on the value, and most likely wouldn't be acceptable to the mortgage company. The length of lease and ground rent will be set out in the lease which should be made available to your solicitor.