My partner and I are acquiring residence in Preston Park. My lawyer has never been on on the mortgage company conveyancing list. Is it possible for me to use my Preston Park conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the mortgage company panel?

Various options include

• Complete the purchase with your preferred Preston Park but your bank will undoubtedly instruct a from their approved panel. This will result in additional cost together with probable frustration.
• Choose a new to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
• Convince your to attempt to join the lender panel

My partner and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Preston Park with . We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement 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 . This is solely used to protect 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 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.

My grandfather passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Preston Park. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £8000. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to , pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?

Given you intend to refinance then will require that you use a conveyancer on the 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 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 mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

I am looking for a flat up to £305k and found one close by in Preston Park I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Preston Park for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass 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 lawyer about this matter.

My step-father has suggested that I use his conveyancing solicitors in Preston Park. Should I use them?

No doubt it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing solicitor is to have feedback from friends or relatives who have actually experience in using the solicitor that you are are thinking of instructing.