This question may be naive but I am new to the house moving as a first time buyer of a two bedroom flat in East Ham. Do I collect the keys to the house on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in East Ham?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the purchase money to the owner’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you should be called to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.

My offer was accepted on an apartment in East Ham on 12/12/2025, valuation was booked 2 days later, all came back fine. Conveyancer retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to TSB and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for TSB to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the TSB conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

At last I have had an offer on an apartment in East Ham agreed to, but there is a chain. The vendors have placed an offer on a flat, however it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have instructed a nearby conveyancing solicitor in East Ham. What do I do now? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Skipton?

It is understandable to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then valuation, East Ham conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must ensure that your solicitor is on the Skipton approved list. Regarding the next phase this very much dictated by the specifics of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market some purchasers would apply for the mortgage with Skipton and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their lawyer to move forward with searches.

Do commercial conveyancing searches reveal planned roadworks that may impact a commercial premises in East Ham?

Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in East Ham will execute a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers invest in sourcing accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in East Ham. The search result sets out definitive information on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in East Ham.

For each commercial conveyancing transaction in East Ham it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. Failure to identify developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately can cause delays to East Ham commercial conveyancing transactions as well as present a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not carried out for residential conveyancing in East Ham.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in East Ham?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in East Ham. 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…’

I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in East Ham I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in East Ham in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?

Should you require a mortgage that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

I happen to be an executor of my recently deceased mum’s Will, with a bungalow in East Ham which is to be marketed. The property is unregistered at HMLR and I'm told that many purchasers will insist that it is completed before they will proceed. What's the mechanism for this?

In the circumstances that you have set out it seems advisable to seek to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. The Land Registry’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and certified copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.