My grandfather passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Stroud. 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 Co-operative, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?

If you plan to re-mortgage then Co-operative will require that you use a conveyancer on the Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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 Co-operative mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

I am assisting my mother sell her property in Stroud. Will the conveyancer arrange an EPC or it is for the owner to see to?

Following the demise of Home Information Packs, energy assessments was left as a mandatory component of moving house. An energy assessment should be to hand in advance of the property being put on the market. This is not a task that conveyancers normally arrange. If you are using a Stroud conveyancing lawyer they may be willing to arrange energy performance certificates given their contacts with long established Stroud providers

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unseasoned as a first time buyer of a ground floor flat in Stroud. Do I collect the keys to the house on completion from my solicitor? If so, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Stroud?

On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Stroud. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the completion advance to the owner’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you will be invited to collect the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

We had appointed solicitors located in Stroud on the Virgin Money solicitor panel. They are now charging me a supplemental amount for the legal aspects of the Virgin Money mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Virgin Money?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your property lawyer is entitled to charge a fee for this. This charge is not set by Virgin Money but by your Stroud solicitor. Numerous firms on the Virgin Money panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many firms incorporate it on their overall fee.

I am purchasing my first flat in Stroud with a loan from The Mortgage Works. The sellers would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep advised me not inform my lawyer about the side-deal as it may impact my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.

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.

We're first time buyers - agreed a price, but the agent told us that the owners will only go ahead if we use the agent's preferred lawyers as they need a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a local solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Stroud

It is unlikely the owners are driving this. Should the vendor desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a motivated buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Try to communicate with the vendors directly and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are motivated buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you are going to appoint your own,trusted Stroud conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will provide the estate agent a commission or hit his conveyancing targets set by corporate headquarters.

Do online conveyancing organisations undertake everything a high street Stroud solicitor does or do I still need to employ a solicitor for the final stages for my conveyancing in Stroud?

If you instruct an online conveyancer they should cover all the tasks your Stroud solicitor will cover.