I am soon to complete on the purchase of a house in Oxford but as a consequence of wreckage from some water damage at the property I have managed to agree compensation from the owner in the sum of three thousand pounds taking the form of a reduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but Lloyds will not permit this. Should they have been approached?

The property lawyer being on a Lloyds approved list is duty bound to inform Lloyds of any changes to the sale price. If you prohibit your property lawyer to disclose the price change to Lloyds then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Lloyds and you would have to appoint a new lawyer for your conveyancing in Oxford.

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

This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Oxford conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Oxford 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 House Prices, Crime details, Oxford Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Oxford.

My wife and I purchased a terraced Georgian property in Oxford. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching 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 for 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 Oxford 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 lenders. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.

I decided to have a survey completed on a house in Oxford in advance of instructing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks will not issue a loan on a flying freehold house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different instructions from Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Oxford. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

I have been Googling for Oxford online conveyancing estimates. Can I be assured that all the Oxford practices that are identified on your directory are on the bank conveyancing panel?

The law firms listed on our site have assured us via an online form that they are on the lender panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the bank panel. To date we have not been informed by either a mortgage company or a member of the public that the data about a specific Oxford firm being on the bank conveyancing panel is incorrect.