I am not in a position to travel far from West Drayton. What is the rationale as to why all West Drayton solicitors are not on all lender panels?

Mortgage companies point to the fact that solicitor-led fraud is considered to be responsible for millions of pounds of fraud annually.The dismissal of law firms from lender panels started with the rise in mortgage fraud, which prompted a thematic review by the FSA in 2011. Its conclusions included recommendations for mortgage companies to review their conveyancing panels, which triggered a major policy change in the sector. This led to banks and building societies culling a number of firms off their panel of approved conveyancers .

My grandfather passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in West Drayton. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £4500. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Co-operative, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?

Given you intend to refinance then Co-operative will require that you use a conveyancer on the Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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 Co-operative mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in West Drayton ahead of instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some lenders will refuse to issue a mortgage on such a property.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in West Drayton. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

I have been pointed in your direction by numerous estate agents in West Drayton to select a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to recommend your lawyers over a competitor’s?

We don’t make any referral fee for sending work in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand a fee because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

What can I do to discover who owns a property in West Drayton?

As long as the premises is recorded at HM Land Registry, and you have sufficient specifics of the location of the premises, you should be able to view details from the HM Land Registry of the registered proprietor for a for less than a fiver.