Completed the sale of my flat in Wooler last March yet the purchaser is e-mailing every few hours to say his solicitor needs to hear from mine. What should my lawyer have done following completion?

After completion of your disposal your solicitor should send the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the purchaser's lawyers. Where relevant, your conveyancer must also evidence that the mortgage has been paid off to the purchasers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion procedures just for conveyancing in Wooler.

I am assisting my step-mother sell her property in Wooler. Does the solicitor commission an energy performance certificate or it is for me to see to?

After the demise of HIPs, energy performance certificates was maintained a compulsory component of selling a property. An energy performance certificate must be to hand prior to the property being advertised. This is not something that solicitors ordinarily organise. If you are using a Wooler conveyancing practitioner they may help arrange EPC’s due to their relationships with reputable local energy assessors

My partner and I have arranged a further advance on our mortgage from Yorkshire BS as we want to conduct renovations to our house in Wooler. Do we need to appoint a local Wooler solicitor on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?

Yorkshire BS would not normally instruct firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Yorkshire BS list.

I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Wooler off the council. I have a mortgage agreed with Kent Reliance. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Kent Reliance, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel.

I moved into my home on 12 June and the transaction details is yet to be registered. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Wooler said it should be registered in less than a month. Are transfers in Wooler uniquely lengthy to register?

As far as conveyancing in Wooler registration is no faster or slower than anywhere else in the country. Rather than based on location, timeframes can differ subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry must send notices to any third persons or bodies. At present in the region of three quarters of such applications are fully dealt with within 12 days but some can be subject to extensive hold-ups. Registration occurs after the purchaser has moved in to the property so registration formalities is not always top priority yet if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer should contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.

I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Wooler for my house move. Can I check a firm’s complaints history with the profession’s regulator?

Members of the public can review published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations stemming from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's history, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator may monitor telephone calls for training purposes.

Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Wooler garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Wooler conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Wooler do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Wooler Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

This question is useful as a) areas could cause problems in the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will want to have all the details Is there a share of the freehold? Many Wooler leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the management company. Where you buy the property you will have to pay this contribution, normally quarterly throughout the year. This can be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, normally this is not a exorbitant amount, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because occasionally it could be prohibitively expensive.