IfI were to acquire a freehold housein Mortlake mortgage fee and have no survey and no local authority searches how much could I expect to to save on my conveyancing in Mortlake?

Any savings you would make will be limited to the Mortlake conveyancing searches. Your property lawyer still be obliged to do everything else - money laundering, correspond with your sellers lawyer, stamp duty submission, register the property etc. You might save a bit for them not needing to register a charge however it won't be meaningful.

We are buying a property and require a conveyancing solicitor in Mortlake who is on the UBS solicitor panel. Can you recommend a local conveyancing firm?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for UBS . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Mortlake.

I purchased a terraced Victorian property in Mortlake. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Halifax. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. Is it worth asking Halifax to clarify?

You should assess 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Mortlake and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Mortlake is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Mortlake are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Mortlake you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Mortlake 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.

The solicitors handling our conveyancing in Mortlake has forwarded documents to review that state the property is unregistered with epitome documents. Why is the property not registred at the Land Registry?

Whilst most properties in Mortlake are now registered with HM Land Registry there are still some that are unregistered. Any property in Mortlake that has been transferred since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the HMLR under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Mortlake property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Many Mortlake conveyancing practitioners should be able to handle such matters but if any uncertainty exists the prevailing guidance these days is for the seller’s conveyancer to address the registration formalities first and subsequently sell - this will predictably result in a significant delay.