I opted for a Alston based firm for my conveyancing in Alston last week. Reviewing the official terms of business I seeI am responsible for charges even if the sale aborts. Should I ditch them and choose a web based solicitor practice who offer no-sale-no-fee conveyancing in Alston?

It is usually a trade off in that if "No Completion No Fee" is advertised then the fee levels will tend to be be higher to counteract those cases that abort. You should be mindful that such offerings rarely cover expenditure by way of example Alston conveyancing search fees.

Various online forums that I have come across warn that are a common reason for obstruction in Alston house deals. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Alston.

My wife and I have a 4 bedroom Victorian house in Alston. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You should 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Alston and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.

I am buying a new build house in Alston with the aid of help to buy. The builders would not budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The estate agent told me not to tell my conveyancer about this deal as it will adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.

Hoping to buy a property located in Alston and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Alston. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Alston area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?

Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Alston. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found