I have given 2 months notice to my current landlord and have to leave my let out property in Osterley by the end of next month. Conveyancing for my house purchase has just started. How realistic is it to complete in 5 weeks as don't want to have to find temporary accommodation?

The normal practice is not to provide notice on a rental until exchange of contracts has taken place. Assuming that you have not already done so, speak to your conveyancer and request that they cajole the owners solicitors, try to an agreed time frame that all parties will work towards

Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Osterley?

The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.

I acquired my house on 8 August and my personal details is not yet registered. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Osterley advises it will be formalised in a couple of weeks. Are transfers in Osterley particularly slow to register?

As far as conveyancing in Osterley is concerned, registration is no quicker or slower than anywhere else in the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can differ subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry have to notify any third persons or bodies. At present in the region of three quarters of submission are fully addressed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be extensive delays. Historically registration occurs once the buyer is living at the property so registration formalities is not usually an essential issue but where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your conveyancer could speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.

I have just started marketing my garden flat in Osterley. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, however I have recently received a yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is discharge the service charge as normal because all rents and maintenance payments will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Osterley Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Most Osterley leasehold flats will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced by the management company. Where you acquire the property you will have to pay this charge, usually in instalments during the year. This may differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge to be met yearly, normally this is not a significant amount, say around £50-£100 but you should to enquire as on occasion it could be prohibitively expensive. How long is the Lease?

My parents cant seem to find their Osterley property on the HMLR website. They have a vague recollection back in the 60’s when they acquired the house there were complications regarding Osterley not being identified on some systems.

Almost all properties in Osterley should be revealed. Have you endevoured to search to just the postcode. Usually it should disclose all the residences within that postcode. Where recorded it will be there with a title number. If they bought back in the 70’s it's conceivable it may be unrecorded. The address could still be revealed but with the title number identified as 'na'. In this scenario you will need to locate the original title documentation which may be with your parent’s mortgage company.