My grandfather passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Bedmond. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £8000. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Aldermore, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?

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

I have a mortgage with Clydesdale for my property in Bedmond. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Clydesdale?

You must advise Clydesdale prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Clydesdale’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Clydesdale directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Clydesdale conveyancing panel firm.

After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Bedmond. My financial adviser suggested a lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £175. Not long after, the lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Co-operative panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I have finally had an offer on an apartment in Bedmond agreed to, the owners do however have a dependent purchase. The vendors have offered on a property, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other flats in the pipeline. I have instructed a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Bedmond. What should be my next step? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with RBS?

It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, Bedmond conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you should ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the RBS approved list. As to the next steps this very much depends on the circumstances of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. In a rising market some purchasers will apply for the mortgage with RBS and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their solicitor to press on with searches.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. Bedmond is where the house is located. Is there any advice you can impart?

Flying freeholds in Bedmond are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Bedmond you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Bedmond may determine 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 property.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Bedmond. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear the invoice as you normally would because all ground rent and service invoices will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I invested in buying a split level flat in Bedmond, conveyancing was carried out April 2000. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Bedmond with an extended lease are worth £206,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2091

With only 66 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

Our mortgage broker has suggested using their property lawyer for my conveyancing in Bedmond - won’t it be advisable to just instruct them?

This is not necessarily the case and you are entitled to use whichever conveyancing practitioner you prefer for your Bedmond home move. A solicitor put forward by a 3rd party adviser may not necessarily be the best conveyancer, they may put forward their own conveyancing firm who are based remotely. In this instance you may not have contact with your lawyer and due to the lack of continuity in the transaction, it may be difficult to obtain updates.