What is the first thing I need to know regarding purchase conveyancing in West London?

Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in West London and elsewhere in England and Wales is an adversarial experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of opportunity for friction between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. For example, the seller, selling agent and even potentially your bank. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in West London is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the process whose interest is to protect your legal interests and to protect you.

There is a definite increase in the "blame" culture- someone must be at fault for the process taking so long. We recommend that you must always trust your solicitor ahead of all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.

After reading online forums for a cheap lawyer in West London, most post that I must use a CQS accredited solicitor. What is CQS?

West London Conveyancing Quality Scheme solicitors have obtained accreditation by the law Society CQS was brought about to establish evidence of quality standards in the home legal process. CQS enables home movers to identify solicitor firms that provide a quality residential conveyancing. West London is one of locations in England and Wales in which CQS are based. The scheme requires solicitors to undergo a strict assessment, compulsory training, self-reporting, spot checks and yearly assessments in order to maintain CQS status. It is open only to members of the Law Society who meet the demanding standards set by the scheme and has the support of the Association of British Insurers.

A friend advised me that if I am buying in West London I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your West London conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about West London around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the West London Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, West London Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding West London.

It has been four months since my purchase conveyancing in West London concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am buying my first flat in West London benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent advised me not inform my lawyer about the deal as it would adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.