Forgive me if this question is silly but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a garden flat in Shotley Bridge. Do I pick up the keys to the premises on completion from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in Shotley Bridge?

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 seller's conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be called to receive the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.

Is it correct that all Shotley Bridge CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Co-operative conveyancing list of approved firms?

It is true that some banks and building societies now use the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.

I have paid off my mortgage with Clydesdale. I assume I don't need a Shotley Bridge conveyancer on the Clydesdale panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Clydesdale 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 Clydesdale mortgage from the register. Clydesdale, 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 Clydesdale has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Clydesdale has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I appreciate that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I require this when acquiring a house in Shotley Bridge? or Apparently there is an ancient law that could mean that house owners residing in a parish church boundary may be liable to contribute towards repairs towards the chancel within the church. Is this appropriate for conveyancing in Shotley Bridge?

Unless a prior purchase of the premises completed after 12 October 2013 you may expect conveyancing practitioners handling conveyancing in Shotley Bridge to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.

My wife and I have a renovated Edwardian house in Shotley Bridge. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and TSB. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking TSB to clarify?

You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Shotley Bridge and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the position with your conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.

My fiance and I may need to let out our Shotley Bridge 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Shotley Bridge conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

The lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Shotley Bridge do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I acquired a 1st floor flat in Shotley Bridge, conveyancing having been completed 4 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in Shotley Bridge with a long lease are worth £179,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2081

With just 57 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £26,600 and £30,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

My wife and I are purchasing a first floor flat in Shotley Bridge. At the time of instructing our conveyancing practitioner, they assured us that they were on all major UK mortgage company panels. Our financial adviser called today to advise that they don't seem to be on the Barclays approved list. Were it to be true, what should we do? Should we just pick a different conveyancing practitioner that is on their approved list or do we cover the costs for dual representation, with Barclays appointing their own approved solicitor.

Where you are acquiring a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the buyer’s solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a property lawyer has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the solicitor to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the property lawyer has to fulfill. Some banks now require their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact Barclays and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on Barclays's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Shotley Bridge solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another conveyancing practitioner into the mix.