What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Putney Vale? Is this really warranted?

You are right in the requirement set out by your lawyer has nothing to do with conveyancing in Putney Vale. Nowadays you can not complete any conveyancing deal without first providing evidence of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence and a council tax bill. Remember if you are providing your driving licence as evidence of ID it needs to be both the paper element and photo card part, one is not sufficient without the other.

Verification of the origin of funds is mandated under Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when when this is requested of you as your lawyer will need to have this information on file. Your Putney Vale conveyancing solicitor will require evidence of proof of funds prior to accepting any monies from you into their client account and they may also ask further questions regarding the source of funds.

I am about to put a bid on a leasehold property in Putney Vale. The estate agents advise that it is usual for flats in Putney Vale to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am getting a loan with Tesco Bank. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has 70 years unexpired.

Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Tesco Bank have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 6/12/2025 the requirements read as follows :

The deeds to my property can not be found. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Putney Vale 4 years ago no longer exist. What do I do?

You no longer need to have the physical official documentation to evidence that you own the land or property, given that the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.

I am buying my first flat in Putney Vale benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not budge the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not inform my conveyancer about this deal as it could put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

Do I need to be suspicious about brokers that I am dealing with are recommending a national conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Putney Vale conveyancing practice?

As with many service providers, often input from relatives can be most helpful. But there are many people with a keen interest in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, financial adviser and banks might all suggest conveyancers to select. On occasion these lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but sometimes there behind the scenes commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You have the discretion to select your preferred conveyancer. You need to be aware that the majority of mortgage providers operate an approved list of solicitors you have to use for the lender aspect of your conveyancing.