We are a couple about to exchange contracts for a freehold house in Wembley Park. We have hit a snag. The loan offer with Accord Mortgages Ltd expires on 10/2/2025 but the vendors are suggesting a completion date of 12/2/2025. Can one prolong the mortgage expiry date?

The best person to deal with your concern is your lawyer who is in a position to calculate whether they better off negotiating with the mortgage broker, vendor’s representatives, estate agents or conceivably all three taking into account the circumstances your house move as of today.

As someone not used to the Wembley Park conveyancing process what’s the number one tip you can give me for the house moving process in Wembley Park

You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Wembley Park and elsewhere in North London is often a confrontational experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists plenty of room for friction between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. For example, the vendor, selling agent and on occasion your lender. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Wembley Park should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the process whose role it is to act in your legal interests and to keep you safe.

Every so often a third party with a vested interest will try and convince you that you should follow their advice. For example, the estate agent may claim to be helping by suggesting your conveyancer is slow. Or your financial adviser may advise you to do something that is against your solicitors recommendation. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the conveyancing process.

I have a decision in principle. The lender mentioned the home loan came with free conveyancing. Is the implication that I have to appoint their panel solicitor as I would prefer to instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Wembley Park?

You should check but the the likelihood is that appoint one of their panel solicitors if you take up the "fee-free" offer. Speak to the lender to determine if they offer you a cash alternative. It is not unheard for a lender to give a £250 cashback as a further option in which case that money can go towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor near Wembley Park.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Wembley Park?

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Wembley Park. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

We're novice buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the agent told us that the owners will only move forward if we appoint their preferred lawyers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local conveyancer used to conveyancing in Wembley Park

We suspect that the owner is unaware of this request. If they require ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine buyer is going to damage their objectives. Bypass the agents and go straight to the owners and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to go, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to appoint your own,trusted Wembley Park conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing figures set by HQ.