We were just about to sign contracts for a semi detached house in Shaftesbury. We encountered a snag. The loan offer with The Royal Bank of Scotland expires on 18/3/2026 but the vendors are putting forward a completion date of 20/3/2026. Is it possible to extend the loan offer?

The best person to deal with your issue is your conveyancer who is in a position to determine if they should be discussing with the bank, vendor’s conveyancers, estate agents or possibly all parties given what has happend in your transaction as of today.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house can not be found. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in Shaftesbury 5 years ago are no longer around. Will I be able to sell the house?

Assuming you have a registered title the details of your proprietorship will be recorded by HMLR with a Title Number. It is possible to perform a search at the Land Registry, find your house and secure up to date copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for a small fee.

I am buying my first flat in Shaftesbury with a mortgage from Godiva Mortgages Ltd. The sellers would not budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent advised me not reveal to my solicitor about the extras as it could impact my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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.

My husband and I are new on the property ladder - had an offer accepted, but the agent informed us that the owners will only proceed if we appoint the agent's preferred lawyers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family solicitor who is accustomed to conveyancing in Shaftesbury

We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. Should the owner desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious buyer is counter productive. Speak to the vendors direct and explain that (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are ready to progress, with finances arranged © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to appoint your preferred Shaftesbury conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will earn their negotiator at the agency a commission or hit his conveyancing thresholds set by HQ.

A conveyancing company dealt with my conveyancing in Shaftesbury half a dozen years past having retained my title documents but has since been shut down – What can I do to get hold of these?

Deeds, as such, no longer exist as the majority of properties in Shaftesbury are registered digitally at Land Registry. Where you need to establish ownership or are selling or re-mortgaging your property lawyer can obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.

If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned as quickly as possible.