I am buying a house for cash in Shepperton. I have lived for the last dozen years in Shepperton. Conveyancing searches are expensive. As I know the road and vicinity intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

If you not getting a mortgage, then all but one or two of the Shepperton conveyancing searches are optional. Your conveyancer will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but she is duty bound to take that path of advice. Do bear in mind; if you are going to sell the house in the future, it will be of relevance to your prospective buyer what the searches reveal. There are plenty of instances where premises with no practical issues can still reveal detrimental search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Shepperton should provide you some practical guidance here.

My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Shepperton. I I would like to check if they are on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Can you help?

You should e-mail the solicitor and enquire if they are on the lender panel. Otherwise you can get in touch with Aldermore who may be able to confirm.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Shepperton benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about the deal as it would affect my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.

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.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Shepperton I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Shepperton suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

Me and my husband have recently had an offer accepted on our 1st house in Shepperton, and need to get solicitors appointed. I have used the numerous comparison based websites and the fee estimates are from all across the England and Wales. Is it advisable to have a Shepperton conveyancing practitioner local to our potential property? We are happy to do all the communicating over email, but I guess at some point we may need to physically go into the conveyancing practitioner's office to sign contracts?

Generally there is no need to physically visit the office of your property lawyer, they can post any relevant papers to you, which you can sign and send back. Many home movers nevertheless opt to use a locally based solicitor, but it's by no means essential for conveyancing in Shepperton.