My husband and I are buying a 1 bedroom apartment in Twyford with a mortgage. We have a Twyford lawyer, but the bank says she’s not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct one of the bank panel firms or retain our Twyford property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. This feels very unfair; can we not require that the bank use our Twyford lawyer ?

Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Twyford conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

I have recentlybeen informed that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Twyford for a purchase of a leasehold flat 18 months ago. How can I check that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest way to check if the property is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Twyford conveyancing specialists.

I opted to have a survey done on a house in Twyford before instructing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. My surveyor has said that some banks will not grant a loan on this type of property.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Twyford. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

I was recommended by a number of selling agents in Twyford to locate a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to promote your site ahead of alternative conveyancing organisations?

We don’t make any commission for directing people in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.

Completion is due on the disposal of our £150,000 garden flat in Twyford in just under a week. The management company has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Twyford?

Twyford conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes ordinarily involves administration charges invoiced by management companies :

Addressing pre-exchange enquiries Where consent is required before sale in Twyford Copies of the building insurance and schedule Deeds of covenant upon sale Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Twyford leasehold property is £350. For Twyford conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

Twyford Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the lessees have being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is frequently retained where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Where a Twyford lease has less than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the property. Check with your lender that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this would cost. For most Twyfordlease extensions you will need to own the premises for a couple of years in order to be eligible to exercise a lease extension.