My partner’s brother is a conveyancer. I hope that I will receive preferential fee for conveyancing, However if that does not come through, what kind of fees should I be paying for conveyancing in Boldon?

It’s advisable to obtain two or three conveyancing quotes. Make use of our comparison tool on this page. You will notice that prices may contrast greatly but service levels do differ between conveyancers as is true with the vast majority of professional services.

I purchased a freehold house in Boldon but nevertheless pay rent, why is this and what is this?

It’s unusual for properties in Boldon and has limited impact for conveyancing in Boldon but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back hundreds of years, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the establishment of new rentcharges from 1977 onwards.

Previous rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 is to be extinguished.

is it true that all Boldon solicitor practices on the Co-operative conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Some banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be regulated by the CLC.

Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. Boldon conveyancing solicitors are chosen. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Santander?

There is no definitive answer here. Have Santander conducted the survey? Have you advised Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Boldon. My financial adviser suggested a property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Not long after, the solicitor called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Coventry BS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I'm buying a new build house in Boldon benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not inform my lawyer about this side-deal as it will impact my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.

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

I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Boldon prior to appointing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will refuse to issue a loan on this type of property.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist 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 will be more expensive.