Me and my fiance are planning to purchase a 2 bedroom flat in Seahouses with a mortgage. We have a Seahouses lawyer, but the lender says he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little option but to instruct one of the mortgage company panel conveyancing practices or retain our Seahouses lawyer and pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Seahouses conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.

My grandmother passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Seahouses. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to RBS, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?

If you intend to refinance then RBS will insist on your using a conveyancer on the RBS conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your RBS conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the RBS mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.

My friend recommended that if I am buying in Seahouses I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Seahouses conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Seahouses around the property and the people living there. It incorporates 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 Seahouses.

My wife and I purchased a renovated Georgian house in Seahouses. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and TSB. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with 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 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 Seahouses 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 buyers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.

My solicitors in Seahouses have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with the mortgage company. Is it case that being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a prescribed period?

It very much depends from lender to lender but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the bank Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting the bank directly.