I plan on acquiring residence in Eel Pie Island. My lawyer is not on the lender approved panel. Am I still permitted to use my Eel Pie Island conveyancing solicitor even though they are not on the mortgage company panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?

Various options include

• Proceed with your existing Eel Pie Island conveyancer but your mortgage company will need to use a lawyer from their conveyancing panel. The net result is additional cost together with potential frustration.
• Get a fresh conveyancing practitioner to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
• Convince your solicitor to pull out all the stops to get accepted on the bank’s conveyancing panel

We are purchasing a detached bungalow in Eel Pie Island. Our aim is to an extension at the rear at the property.Will the conveyancing process involve investigations to ascertain if these alterations are prohibited?

Your property lawyer will check the registered title as conveyancing in Eel Pie Island will occasionally reveal restrictions in the title documents which restrict categories of changes or necessitated the consent of another owner. Many additions need local authority planning consent and approval in accordance building regulations. Some areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. It would be sensible to check these issues with a surveyor before you commit yourself to a purchase.

is it true that all Eel Pie Island solicitor practices on the Santander conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?

As solicitors, in order to be on the Santander approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be overseen by the CLC.

I have paid off my mortgage with Virgin Money. I assume I don't need a Eel Pie Island conveyancing practitioner on the Virgin Money panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Virgin Money mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Virgin Money mortgage from the register. Virgin Money, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Virgin Money has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Virgin Money has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I require fast conveyancing in Eel Pie Island as I am faced with a deadline to exchange contracts in less than one month. A home loan is not required. Can I avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?

As you are are a cash purchaser you have the choice not to have searches conducted although no lawyer would suggest that you don't. Drawing on years of experience of conveyancing in Eel Pie Island the following are instances of what can show up and therefore affect market value: Enforcement Notices, Overdue Charges, Overdue Grants, Railway Schemes,...

I decided to have a survey completed on a property in Eel Pie Island prior to instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to grant a mortgage on such a property.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Nationwide. If you contact us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Eel Pie Island. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Eel Pie Island. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, however I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the maintenance contribution as usual given that all ground rent and maintenance payments will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I inherited a a ground floor purpose built flat in Eel Pie Island. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Eel Pie Island conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Eel Pie Island residence is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 60.45 years.