New buyer - Conveyancing questions

gaia66

I am looking to buy the flat I live in with a RTB. There are so many things I have to get my head around so please bear with me :-).
So far the council made their offer, I accepted it. Halifax did and affordability calculation which I passed. I am now looking at Conveyancing. I had two quotes so far, one suggested by Halifax and one word of mouth. Thing is, the quotes are not too different (both about £2000) but the items on the list are quite different. What are the searches that must be done and the ones that are not strictly necessary? For example, do I need a Drainage and Water search and a Chancel search if the property is a flat in the middle of a London estate nowhere near the river?Also, one is doing a bankruptcy search and the other doesn't , one is doing a Money Laundering search and the other doesn't, again one has and Environmental search and the other does not.
Also, I did not have a survey done privately, will the bank do it or do I have to do it myself. I suppose I trusted the council survey...

Thank you,
Gaia

stator

The mortgage lender will require a valuation. You are strongly advised to either pay them to do an extra Home Buyer's Report or to commission your own Home Buyer's Report or full House Survey.

As to the searches it is very annoying that all conveyencers put different items in their quote, unfortunately they often charge for different parts. You should ask them if their quote covers everything that will be payable on completion.

kingstreet

The solicitor carries out the instructions of the lender.

Whatever searches the lender requires will be carried out at your expense. As long as the solicitor is charging only the cost of the search in question, the only difference between solicitor quotes should be their fees.