My partner’s uncle is a solicitor. I anticipate that I can be offered preferential rates for conveyancing, but if not, what level of costs would I typically be looking at for conveyancing in Arnside?

You should contrast pricing. Do use our search tool on this site. You will notice that prices may vary but the service one can expect differ between property lawyers as is the case with the vast majority of professional services.

I am in the process of refinancing my apartment in Arnside, does my lawyer have to be on the Nationwide Conveyancing panel?

In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Nationwide conveyancing panel, but Nationwide would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.

A relative recommended that where I am buying in Arnside I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Arnside conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Arnside around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Arnside.

I own a renovated Victorian property in Arnside. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Accord Mortgages Ltd. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same address. Is it worth asking Accord Mortgages Ltd 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 Arnside and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the position with your conveyancing lawyer who completed the work.

A licensed conveyancer dealt with my conveyancing in Arnside half a dozen years past having stored my deeds but has now closed – What steps do I now take to retreive them?

Deeds, as such, are no longer appropriate for the majority of homes in Arnside are registered electronically at Land Registry. If you need to show ownership or are disposing of or re-mortgaging your lawyer can obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.

If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned with reasonable haste.