It is 10 years ago since I acquired my home in Boldon. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I can't locate the title documents. Is this a problem?

Don’t worry too much. First the deeds may be retained by your lender or they could stored with the solicitor who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the title will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Boldon relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.

I just bought a property at auction in Boldon. Conveyancing is required. What are my next steps?

Given that you have now legally bound yourself to purchase you will need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor as a matter of urgency as you are faced with a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the conveyancing. An auction property will have a bespoke legal pack. This will include evidence of title and search results. Where you are dealing with leasehold premises the legal papers may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation pertinent to a leasehold property. You should pass this on to the conveyancer instructed by you ASAP. You also need to ensure that you have funds organised to complete on the on the contractual date .

I'm at the point of looking at apartments in Boldon and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a conveyancer in place at this point? I will be getting a mortgage with Coventry BS.

You should start requesting conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the EA. As you are taking out a mortgage with Coventry BS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

The mortgage over my property is with Clydesdale for my property in Boldon. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Clydesdale?

Clydesdale must be informed of your intention before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Clydesdale’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Clydesdale will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Clydesdale directly. You need not do this via a Clydesdale conveyancing panel solicitor.

I opted to have a survey completed on a house in Boldon prior to appointing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. Our surveyor advised that some lenders tend not grant a loan on a flying freehold property.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Nationwide. If you call us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Boldon. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Boldon to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.

My brother has urged me to instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Boldon. Should I choose my own solicitor?

No doubt the best way to find a conveyancing lawyer is to get guidance from friends or family who have used the conveyancer that you are considering.

The property lawyers conducting our conveyancing in Boldon has sent documents to review that reveal that the land is unregistered with epitome documents. How can it be that the property not registred at the Land Registry?

Whilst the vast majorities of properties in Boldon are now registered with the Land Registry there are still a few that remain unregistered. Any property in Boldon that has been purchased since the late 1980’s will have been registered at the HMLR under the compulsory ‘first registration’ scheme. However, if a Boldon property has not changed hands in that time then it’s likely the old fashioned title deeds will be the only evidence of ownership.Plenty of Boldon conveyancing practitioners will be able to handle this type of conveyancing but in the event that uncertainty prevails the conventional advice nowadays seems to be for the seller to register it first and then sell - this can though naturally result in a drawn-out transaction.