My grandmother passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Heston. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £8000. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Principality, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?

Where you plan to refinance then Principality will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Principality 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 Principality 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 Principality mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

We are purchasing a detached bungalow in Heston. The intention is to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will legal conveyancing on the property include enquiries to determine if these works are allowed?

Your property lawyer will review the deeds as conveyancing in Heston will occasionally identify restrictions in the title deeds which prevent certain changes or need the permission of another owner. Some works call for local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. You should check these things with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Heston. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.

It is not clear whether my lender requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Heston bank branch on numerous occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My Heston conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- called and was told they would not lend based on their published requirements. I simply don't know who is right.

As long as the lawyer is on the lender approved list, she or he must follow the CML Handbook provisions for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank 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 mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.

I'm buying a new build house in Heston with a loan from Platform Home Loans Ltd. The sellers refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not to tell my solicitor about the extras as it will affect my loan with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one near me in Heston I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Heston for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

If you require a mortgage that many years will likely be an issue. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Heston which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Heston. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena.

I own a ground floor flat in Heston. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Heston property 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 remaining number of years on the lease was 60.45 years.