We're in Ealing, First timers buying with a mortgage (lender is TSB , and our lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no solicitor should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

I am buying my first flat in Ealing with a mortgage from Virgin Money. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent advised me not disclose to my solicitor about this deal as it may put at risk my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Ealing is where the house is located. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Ealing are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Ealing you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Ealing 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 residence.

Am I best advised to use a Ealing conveyancing practitioner based in the area that I am hoping to buy? An old friend can perform the legal work but his firm is located 300miles drive away.

The benefit of a local Ealing conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute documents, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local Ealing know how is a bonus. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and on the whole were happy that must surpass using an unknown Ealing conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being based in the area.

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Ealing. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Ealing - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I am the leaseholder of a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Ealing. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Ealing residence is Flat 4 38 The Mall in April 2014. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension to be £25,451 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 68.7 years.