My grandmother passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Vauxhall. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £8000. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Lloyds, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?

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

The mortgage over my property is with Nationwide for my property in Vauxhall. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Nationwide?

Your original mortgage agreement with Nationwide will provide that you need their approval before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nationwide’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 Nationwide directly. You need not do this via a Nationwide conveyancing panel solicitor.

I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in November 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Co-operative are being problematic. The Vauxhall solicitor who is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Co-operative are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Co-operative have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Co-operative have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Co-operative may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

I've read lots of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Vauxhall solicitor - who is on the UBS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?

UBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually UBS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Vauxhall surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

The deeds to our property can not be found. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Vauxhall 4 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?

As long as the title is registered the details of your proprietorship will be retained by HMLR with a Title Number. It is possible to carry out a search at the Land Registry, find your property and get current copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for a small fee.

I'm remortgaging my current property to a BTL mortgage with National Westminster Bank and intend to use the remaining equity towards a second house. The area we are talking about is Vauxhall. Will your conveyancers be able to act for the two mortgage companies and link together the transactions?

Make use of our search tool on this site to be sure that the conveyancers are approved by both banks. On the basis that they are the solicitor will be able to tie up the two conveyancing matters but you should talk with you solicitor and make clear your expectations and requirements.

I wish to sublet my leasehold flat in Vauxhall. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

The lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Vauxhall do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the sublease.

Following months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Vauxhall. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Vauxhall premises is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 56 years.