It is is a decade since I bought my house in West Sussex. Conveyancing lawyers have recently been retained on the sale but I can't track down the title documents. Is this a major issue?

You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be retained by the mortgage company or they may still be with the conveyancers who acted in the purchase. Secondly the chances are that the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors acquiring up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in West Sussex relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in West Sussex. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.

Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in West Sussex

The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.

I decided to have a survey done on a house in West Sussex ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. My surveyor has said that some banks will refuse to issue a mortgage on a flying freehold premises.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in West Sussex. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

I need to find a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in West Sussex. I have chance upon a site which appears to be the perfect offering If it is possible to get all this stuff completed via web that would be ideal. Do I need to be concerned? What are the potential pitfalls?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?

I own a leasehold house in West Sussex. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in West Sussex who previously acted has now retired. Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a West Sussex conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I own a split level flat in West Sussex, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2004. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding properties in West Sussex with over 90 years remaining are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2083

With only 58 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £23,800 and £27,400 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.