My husband and I are intending to purchase a 2 bedroom apartment in South Shields with a mortgage. We would like to retain our South Shields lawyer, but the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or keep our South Shields property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; are we not able to require that the lender use our South Shields lawyer ?

No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your South Shields conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

I am purchasing a house without a mortgage in South Shields. I have resided for the previous Seventeen years in South Shields. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. Given that I have knowledge of the area and road very well should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

In the absence of a home loan, then the vast majority of the South Shields conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your conveyancer will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but she is duty bound to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are going to sell the house in the future, it could be of interest to your future purchaser what the searches contain. There are plenty of instances where houses with no practical issues can still show up adverse search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in South Shields will be able to give you some constructive guidance here.

I am purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in South Shields. Our aim is to an extension at the rear at the property.Will legal work on the property involve investigations to see if these works are allowed?

Your conveyancer will check the deeds as conveyancing in South Shields can occasionally reveal restrictions in the title documents which prevent certain alterations or require the permission of another owner. Certain additions need local authority planning permissions and approval under the building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. You should check these things with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.

We expect to receive a DIP from HSBC this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do HSBC recommend any South Shields solicitors on the HSBC conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?

You will need to appoint South Shields solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the HSBC conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and HSBC through the process.

Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in South Shields. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.

Is it necessary to take out insurance to protect me from financial exposure to chancel repairs when purchasing a house in South Shields?

Unless a previous purchase of the premises took place after 12 October 2013 you may take it that lawyers carrying out conveyancing in South Shields to remain encouraging a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in South Shields. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in South Shields - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

South Shields Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

Be sure to enquire if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example it is reasonably common in South Shields leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in South Shields. If you love the flatin South Shields however your dog can’t live with you then you have a very hard choice. Does this lease have more than 82 years remaining? On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be wrapped into the service charges, although a few managing agents in South Shields obliged leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for major works.