We are purchasing a 1 bedroom apartment in Whitley Bay with a homeloan from Barclays .We have a Whitley Bay conveyancing lawyer but Barclays says she’s not listed on their approved list of firms. we are left little option but to use a Barclays panel firm or retain our high street solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The loan offered to you is subject to its various provisions, a common one being that solicitors needs to be on the Barclays solicitor panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find 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 lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Barclays

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Whitley Bay 5 years ago are no longer around. What are my next steps?

You no longer need to have the physical official documentation to evidence that you are the registered proprietor of land or premises, given that the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.

I am purchasing a new build house in Whitley Bay with a loan from Leeds Building Society. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The estate agent advised me not disclose to my conveyancer about the extras 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 have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in Whitley Bay I like with open areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Whitley Bay in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?

If you require a home loan that many years will be an issue. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.

Am I right to be concerned that estate agents that I am dealing with are suggesting a factory type conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Whitley Bay conveyancing company?

As is the case with many service providers, often input from connections can be extremely useful or valuable. But there are numerous players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and banks may put forward solicitors to use. On occasion these conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there may be a commercial relationship behind the endorsement. You are at liberty to choose your preferred lawyer. Don't forget that the majority of lenders specify a panel list of lawyers you are obliged to use for the lender related work in your transaction.