We are buying a 3 bedroom semi in Little Haven. Our aim is to convert the garage to an office at the property.Will the conveyancing process include checks to determine if these works are permitted?

Your property lawyer should review the deeds as conveyancing in Little Haven can occasionally identify restrictions in the title documents which prohibit categories of changes or necessitated the permission of a 3rd party. Certain works require local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Some areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Little Haven. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £175. A few days later, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

About to purchase apartment in Little Haven. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Little Haven property lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel.

A colleague advised me that if I am purchasing in Little Haven I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Little Haven conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Little Haven around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Little Haven.

I own a 4 bedroom Georgian house in Little Haven. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Chelsea Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Little Haven and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.

Should I be concerned that brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a web based conveyancing firm as opposed to a local Little Haven conveyancing practice?

As is the case with many professional services, often input from family and friends can be most helpful. Nevertheless there are numerous players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies may suggest lawyers to retain. Sometimes the conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there may be a commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You are free to choose your own lawyer. Don't forget that many banks operate an approved list of lawyers you must use for the lender related work in your house move.

Should one as executor remove a deceased person's name from the title deeds for a property in Little Haven?

Where a Little Haven property is co-owned and one of the owners dies, the name will not automatically be removed from the title deeds. It is not necessary to amend the title as in the event of a disposal you would simply be required to supply proof as to the reason the joint owner is not included in the contract, ordinarily this is in the form of the probate documents.

With a view to making the sale conveyancing more straight forward in the future you may apply to have the deceased party removed from the title register by applying to the land registry with proof of the death. There is no land registry fee payable.