My partner and I are planning to purchase a flat in Sunderland and have instructed a Sunderland conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Halifax have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Sunderland conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Sunderland solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

Would the conveyancing practitioners that you recommend conduct auction conveyancing in Sunderland?

There are a few auction lawyers we can put you in touch with those conducting auction conveyancing. Sunderland is one of our areas of where our lawyers are based.

A friend recommended that if I am purchasing in Sunderland I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Sunderland conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Sunderland around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Sunderland Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Sunderland Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Sunderland.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Sunderland is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can give?

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

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Sunderland. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Sunderland ?

The majority of houses in Sunderland are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Sunderland in which case you should be shopping around for a Sunderland conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should appraise you on the various issues.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Sunderland, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Sunderland with an extended lease are worth £176,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2105

With 80 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £7,600 and £8,800 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.