It is is a decade since I bought my house in North End. Conveyancing solicitors have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down the title documents. Is this a problem?

Don’t worry too much. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be retained by the lender or they could be in the possession of the solicitor who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in all probability the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in North End relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.

The deeds to our house are lost. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in North End 4 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?

You no longer need to hold title official documentation to prove you own the land or property, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.

I am a fortnight into a freehold purchase having been directed to conveyancers by the local agent to execute conveyancing in North End. I am am starting to be disappointed with the level of service. Could you help me find new solicitors?

A solicitor would need to be very bad to suggest replacing them. Has your mortgage offer been generated? If so you need to make them aware of the replacement conveyancer and have the offer are re-sent. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the banks approved list to avoid escalating fees and frustration. That should be your first question of the new solicitors. Our search tool will help you find a bank approved conveyancer for your home move in North End

My fiance and I may need to sub-let our North End ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a North End conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

The lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in North End do not contain subletting altogether – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.

I inherited a basement flat in North End. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a North End premises is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.

I acquired a property in North End last 10/9/2024 and to date it is still not recorded with HM Land Registry. It was part of a development site and my conveyancing practitioner told me that it may take over a year to complete the registration formalities. I have contacted the Land Registry directly and they have informed me the original application was cancelled due to failure to reply to requisitions. Should I be concerned?

It is your property lawyer that you should turn to here in order to satisfy any questions which have been raised as part of the registration formalities for your North End property. Normal North End conveyancing practice includes an undertaking on the part of the vendor’s lawyer that they will help resolve any requisition raised by HMLR so it may be a case of seeking to enforce that undertaking if necessary.