My partner and I are getting closer to an exchange on a property in St Agnes and my parents have transferred the exchange deposit to my conveyancing practitioner. I am now told that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my conveyancer needs to make a notification to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the mortgage company he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I advised the lender concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for this now to hold matters up?

Your conveyancing practitioner is obliged to check with the bank to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only reveal this to your bank if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

I am the registered owner of a freehold residence in St Agnes but still charged rent, why is this and what is this?

It is rare for properties in St Agnes and has limited impact for conveyancing in St Agnes but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of new rentcharges from 1977 onwards.

Old rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 is to be extinguished.

This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as a 1st time purchaser of a garden flat in St Agnes. Do I receive the keys to the premises on completion from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in St Agnes?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will arrange to send the completion advance to the seller's solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be invited to pick up the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. Usually this occurs early afternoon.

I have a mortgage with HSBC for my property in St Agnes. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform HSBC?

Your original mortgage agreement with HSBC will provide that you need their approval in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of HSBC’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact HSBC directly. You need not do this via a HSBC conveyancing panel lawyer.

I recently had an offer agreed on a house in St Agnes. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an on account payment of £200. Soon after, the property lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my property are lost. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in St Agnes 4 years ago are no longer around. What do I do?

You no longer need to hold title official documentation to evidence that you are the owner of your registered land or property, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. St Agnes is the location of the property. Can you offer any assistance?

Flying freeholds in St Agnes are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in St Agnes you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St Agnes 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 residence.