In the event thatI was to acquire a straightforward homein Ealing for cash and dispense with a survey and no local authority searches how much would I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Ealing?

Any savings you would gain will be isolated to the Ealing conveyancing searches. Your lawyer still be obliged to do everything else - money laundering, communicating with the sellers conveyancing practitioner, SDLT return, register the ownership etc. You might save a bit for them not needing to register a mortgage but it won't be a lot.

The Ealing conveyancing firm that just started acting on my purchase in Ealing have suddenly closed. I chose them because I needed a firm on the UBS conveyancing panel and my preferred Ealing lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What do I do now?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the UBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.

I happen to be the sole recipient of my late mum's will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Ealing. The Ealing property was put into my name in January. I plan to dispose of the property. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the property in January. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be affected by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the lender as this provision is chiefly there to pick up on subsales or the flipping of properties.

Are all Ealing Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Kent Reliance conveyancing list of approved solicitors?

Some major banks and building societies now make use of CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to remain on their panels.

Intending to buy a flat in Ealing. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Ealing property lawyer is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel.

Me and my brother own a 4 bedroom Victorian house in Ealing. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Leeds Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Ealing and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.

The conveyancing solicitors handling our conveyancing in Ealing has forwarded documents to review that reveal that the property is unregistered with epitome documents. Surely all houses in Ealing should be registered?

Almost all property in Ealing is registered. An 'epitome' is basically a dossier of photocopies of documents affecting an unregistered title. Plenty of Ealing conveyancing lawyers should be familiar with such matters but if any uncertainty prevails the standard advice these days appears to be for the seller’s conveyancer to register it first and then sell - this will have a domino effect to cause a significant delay.