Can you help? My Durham solicitor is assuring me that he is legally obliged toconduct Durham conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the HSBCsolicitor panel. Is my lawyer correct?

Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. Given that you are taking out a loan with a mortgage company your conveyancing practitioner has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your property lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your lender’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Durham conveyancing searches.

Are the BSA intent on creating a online directory to list firms on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society conveyancing panel for instance in Durham?

We are not aware of any intention on the part of the BSA to develop such a search facility.

My wife and I have a semi-detached Edwardian house in Durham. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Halifax. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to read 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 Durham and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who completed the work.

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Durham. Before I get started I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Durham - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Durham Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

Be sure to enquire if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being permitted in in a block in Durham. If you like the propertyin Durham however your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be presented with a difficult determination. Best to be warned if redecorating or some other major work is due in the near future to be shared between the leasehold owners and may well materially impact the level of the maintenance fees or necessitate a specific payment. Generally speaking the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Durham ask leasehold owners to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works.

My intention is to purchase a ground floor flat in Durham. Conveyancing lawyer is awaiting, from the owner, building insurance documents. I was told today I was advised that the vendor needs to send the insurance schedule for the flat above also. Why would my property lawyer want to check the insurance for the flat above? Is it really necessary? We have been waiting for the last 3 weeks…

It is not impossible in leasehold conveyancing in Durham to discover Conveyancing in Durham in a minority of cases reveals that the lease requires the tenant's to insure their individual flats rather than the landlord insuring the whole block - which is definitely better. Do contact your property lawyer but it would seem that your solicitor is looking to verify that the whole building is insured. Insuring a ground floor apartment is no help when it comes to rebuilding after a fire if the other flat cannot be reinstated for lack of insurance.