We are buying a 2 bedroom flat in West Brompton with a mortgage. We like our West Brompton lawyer, but the lender advise he's not on their "panel". It seems we have no choice but to select one of the bank panel solicitors or keep our West Brompton lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. This seems very unfair; can we not require that the lender use our West Brompton conveyancer ?

Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’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 West Brompton conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My uncle passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in West Brompton. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £8000. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Kent Reliance, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?

If you plan to refinance then Kent Reliance will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

I am purchasing my first flat in West Brompton with the aid of help to buy. The builders would not budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative advised me not inform my conveyancer about this side-deal as it could affect my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.

In my capacity as executor for the estate of my aunt I am selling a property in Cardiff but live in West Brompton. My conveyancer (based 235 kilometers awayrequires that I sign a statutory declaration prior to completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in West Brompton to witness and place their company stamp on the document?

strictly speaking you should not need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are located in West Brompton

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in West Brompton where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local West Brompton conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can one apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a West Brompton conveyancing firm to represent me?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a West Brompton conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a West Brompton flat is 5 Wetherby Gardens in June 2014. the Tribunal concluded that the price to be paid for the freehold of the property was £2,369,452. This case related to 5 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 38.98 years.