My aunt passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Rubery. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Santander, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?

Given you plan to refinance then Santander will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Santander conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Santander conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Santander mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

I am selling our home in Rubery and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. Any local conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used a nationwide conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Rubery. Having lived in Rubery for 4 years we know of no issue. Should we contact our local Authority to obtain clarification that there is no issue.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)

Just acquired a semi-detached house in Rubery , how long should it take for the Land Registry to record the transfer to my name? My Rubery conveyancing solicitor has been painfully slow, so I want to be sure that my purchase is registered.

As far as conveyancing in Rubery registration is no faster or slower than anywhere else in the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can vary subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any third parties. As of today in the region of 80% of submission are completed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be extensive hold-ups. Historically registration is effected once the purchaser is living at the property thus registration formalities is not usually top priority but where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor should contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Rubery. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice as normal given that all rents and maintenance charges will be allotted on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Rubery Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask before buying

How is the lease structured? This information is helpful as a) areas may cause problems in the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate if services are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the managing agents you will want to know about it It is important to be aware whether fixing the lift or some other major work is due shortly that will be shared amongst the leaseholders and could well dramatically impact the level of the service costs or necessitate a specific payment.

Me and my wife accepted an offer on a Rubery house we inherited six years ago in 2009. I have over ten years conveyancing experience and, now retired, see no reason not to conduct my own conveyancing. The purchaser's property lawyer has informed me that their mortgage company will not allow you to do your own conveyancing mandating that the funds to be released via a solicitor's bank account.

Lending requirements to conveyancing practitioners from all CML members specify that If the seller is not legally represented the purchaser’s lawyers should check whether the lender needs to be told so that a decision can be made if they are willing to proceed.