It is 10 years ago since I bought my house in South Hylton. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been instructed on the sale but I am unable to find the title documents. Is this a major issue?

Don’t worry too much. Firstly the deeds may be with your lender or they may be archived with the solicitor who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors acquiring up to date copy of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in South Hylton involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it is more problematic but is not insurmountable.

We are selling our property in South Hylton and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. Any local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers instructed an internet conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in South Hylton. We have lived in South Hylton for 4 years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek clarification that the buyers are looking for.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same sickness)

three months have elapsed following my purchase conveyancing in South Hylton took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I'm purchasing a new build house in South Hylton with a mortgage from Nationwide Building Society. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not inform my lawyer about this deal as it will adversely affect my loan with Nationwide Building Society. 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.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. South Hylton is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?

Flying freeholds in South Hylton are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside South Hylton you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in South Hylton may determine 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.