My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Eel Pie Island. I need to find out if they are accepted on the Virgin Money approved list of lawyers. Could you assist?

The first thing you should do is call your solicitor and enquire if they are on the lender panel. Alternatively you can call Virgin Money who may be able to help.

I am buying a new build house in Eel Pie Island benefiting from help to buy. The builders would not reduce the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative told me not to tell my lawyer about the side-deal as it could impact my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.

As co-executor for the estate of my grandmother I am selling a house in Newport but I am based in Eel Pie Island. My solicitor (approximately 200 kilometers awayhas requested that I execute a statutory declaration prior to completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in Eel Pie Island to attest this legal document for me?

Technically speaking you should not need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are located in Eel Pie Island

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Eel Pie Island. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, however I have recently 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 maintenance contribution as usual as all ground rent and maintenance payments 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 subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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 am the proprietor of a basement flat in Eel Pie Island. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for a lease extension?

Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Eel Pie Island premises 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 affected 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 60.45 years.

Two months into a sale of a flat in Eel Pie Island. Conveyancing is fine but we are being charged a fortune by the managing agents. To date we have issued a cheque for £295.50 for a leasehold management pack and then a further £200 plus VAT for answers to queries supplied by the buyers conveyancer.

You will not have any say over the level of the fee for this information however the average fee for the information for Eel Pie Island leasehold property is £355. When it comes to Eel Pie Island conveyancing sales it is conventional for the owner to pay for these costs. The freeholder or their agents are not duty bound to answer such questions although many will be content to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Regretfully there is no legislation that mandates set charges for administrative tasks. Nor is there any prescriptive time frame by which they are required to provide the information.