My wife and I are about to complete buying a house in Perivale but as a consequence of damage from a small fire at the property I have was able negotiate reparation from the vendor of £2k by way of a adjustment in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of a side agreement however HSBC will not agree to this. Why were they involved?

Any conveyancing practitioner that is on a HSBC conveyancing panel is obliged to disclose to HSBC of any changes to the sale price. If you were to refuse your solicitor to report the price change to HSBC then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, HSBC and you would have to appoint a new conveyancer for your conveyancing in Perivale.

My wife and I purchasing a terrace house in Perivale. Our aim is to convert the garage to a playroom at the property.Will the conveyancing process include checks to see if these works are allowed?

Your solicitor should check the deeds as conveyancing in Perivale will occasionally identify restrictions in the title documents which prohibit categories of alterations or require the consent of another owner. Certain extensions require local authority planning consent and approval in compliance with building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. It would be wise to check these issues with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Bank of Ireland. I assume I don't need a Perivale solicitor on the Bank of Ireland panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Bank of Ireland mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Bank of Ireland mortgage from the register. Bank of Ireland, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Bank of Ireland has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Bank of Ireland has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I can not work out if my lender obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Perivale building society branch on various occasions and was told it wasn't a problem and they will lend. My Perivale conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called to say that they would not lend in accordance with their specific requirements. I have no idea who is right.

Your solicitor has to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook section two conditions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.

We are 18 days into a residential purchase having been referred to a firm by the selling agent to do our conveyancing in Perivale. I am am extremely dissatisfied with the quality of service. Could you you assist me in finding new solicitors?

A lawyer would need to be really poor to suggest changing them. Has the mortgage offer been sent? If so you need to make them aware of the replacement lawyer and ensure the offer are re-sent. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the lenders approved list to avoid supplemental expenses and frustration. So that should be your first question of the new lawyers. Our search tool should assist you in finding a lender approved solicitor for your home move in Perivale

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Perivale. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Perivale ?

The majority of houses in Perivale are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Perivale in which case you should be shopping around for a Perivale conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the freeholder’spermission to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor should advise you fully on all the issues.

I own a second floor flat in Perivale. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Perivale conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Perivale flat is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 74 years.

Myself and my partner have just had an offer agreed on a apartment and had an appointment on Wednesday with Nationwide for the mortgage. They have informed us that when it comes to appointing a lawyer that unless they are on their approved list of lawyers then we will be subject to an an additional charge of about two hundred pounds. This is is due to the fact that they would then have to instruct a solicitor to act for them as well as the one we select for ourselves and we assume responsibility for their costs. I have asked Nationwide to supply me with a list so I can seek estimates only from their approved solicitors but was told that I need to check with each individual solicitor to see if they are on the panel. Is there a simple way of finding out who is on a lender panel?

You should ask Nationwide what their criteria for panel membership is for a conveyancer.Thereafter ask the conveyancing practitioner of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on loans for Nationwide historically. Where the answer to those is yes, then just clarify this with Nationwide. Alternatively please utilise our search facility and we may be able to find you a lawyer in Perivale on the panel for Nationwide.