My fiance and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in East Acton with UBS. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the UBS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to UBS. This is solely used to protect UBS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of UBS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

I am purchasing a terraced house in East Acton. Can I do my own conveyancing?

Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing in East Acton you will have to appoint a solicitor on your mortgage company's conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to be made in you doing conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on your lender panel in East Acton.

When it comes to mortgage companies such as Coventry BS, do East Acton property lawyers incur a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are unaware of any lender fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.

I can not fathom if my lender obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my East Acton building society branch on numerous occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My East Acton conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called and was told they would not lend based on their specific requirements. Who do I believe?

Your property lawyer has to follow the CML Handbook Part 2 requirements for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.

My offer was accepted on a house in East Acton on 21/8/2025, valuation was booked 2 days later, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer instructed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Principality and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Principality to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Principality conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I am buying my first flat in East Acton with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to move on the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not disclose to my solicitor about this side-deal as it may affect my loan with the bank. 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.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. East Acton is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can impart?

Flying freeholds in East Acton are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside East Acton you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in East Acton may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.