It is a dozen years since I acquired my home in Wickersley. Conveyancing lawyers have just been appointed on the sale but I can't find my title documents. Is this a problem?

You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be with the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the conveyancers who handled your purchase. Secondly the chances are that the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors acquiring current official copies of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Wickersley relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.

A colleague advised me that in buying a property in Wickersley there could be a number of restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external alterations to a property. Is this right?

There are a number of properties in Wickersley which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Wickersley should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

We had selected conveyancing lawyers locally in Wickersley on the Yorkshire BS solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further fee for handling the Yorkshire BS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Yorkshire BS?

Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your lawyer is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Yorkshire BS but by your Wickersley conveyancing practitioner. Some firms on the Yorkshire BS panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but many firms include it on their overall fee.

I have paid off my mortgage with Skipton. I assume I don't need a Wickersley lawyer on the Skipton panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?

If you have finished paying off your Skipton mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Skipton mortgage from the register. Skipton, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Skipton has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Skipton has instructed the Land Registry to do so

Have completed on a a semi-detached house in Wickersley , how long should it take for the Land Registry to deal with the formalities evidencing my ownership? My Wickersley conveyancing solicitor works at snail pace, so I want to be certain that my ownership is registered.

There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Wickersley registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can vary subject to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry must send notices to any 3rd parties. At present approximately 80% of submission are fully addressed within 12 days but occasionally there can be protracted hold-ups. Historically registration is effected after the purchaser has moved in to the premises therefore an expedited registration is not typically primary concern yet if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your conveyancer could communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Wickersley is where the house is located. Can you offer any assistance?

Flying freeholds in Wickersley are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Wickersley you must be sure that your lawyer goes 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 Wickersley 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.

Me and my husband are selling a Wickersley apartment left to us seven years ago in 2009. I have over 12 years conveyancing knowledge and, although retired, see no reason not to undertake my own legal work. The buyer's conveyancer has informed me that their bank will not allow us to do our own conveyancing mandating that the funds to be released via a solicitor's bank account.

Mortgage instructions to conveyancers from all CML members state that If the seller does not have legal representation the purchaser’s lawyers should check whether the mortgage company needs to be notified so that a decision can be made if they are willing to progress.