Our lawyer has uncovered a a problem with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Alnmouth. The other side have put forward defective title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our conveyancing practitioner says that he must be satisfied that the bank is willing to move forward with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?

Notwithstanding that you have a mortgage offer from the bank does not mean to say that the property will meet their provisions for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. You and the bank are the client. These conveyancing instructions have to be complied with.

The deeds to my property can not be found. The conveyancers who dealt with the conveyancing in Alnmouth 5 years ago have long since closed. What are my options?

Assuming you have a registered title the details of your proprietorship will be held by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is easy to conduct a search at the Land Registry, identify your house and order up to date copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will usually retain a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for £20 inclusive of VAT.

I'm purchasing a new build house in Alnmouth with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent told me not reveal to my solicitor about this side-deal as it would impact my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Alnmouth is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in Alnmouth are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Alnmouth you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Alnmouth may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

Am I right to be concerned about 3rd parties that I am dealing with are suggesting a factory type conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Alnmouth conveyancing company?

As is the case with many service providers, often referrals from connections can be most helpful. But there are lots of players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and lenders may put forward conveyancers to choose. Sometimes the lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there might be a commercial relationship behind the endorsement. You have the right to appoint your own lawyer. You need to be aware that the majority of banks specify a panel list of lawyers you have to use for the mortgage related work in your house move.