It is 10 years ago since I bought my house in West Thurrock. Conveyancing solicitors have now been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down the title documents. Will this jeopardise the sale?

You need not be too concerned. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the solicitor who oversaw your purchase. Secondly in most cases the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers procuring current official copies of the land registers. Most conveyancing in West Thurrock involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.

When researching online forums for a recommended lawyer in West Thurrock, most comment that I should use a CQS assured solicitor. Can you explain what CQS is?

The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised kitemark for legal experts in buying or selling property, trusted by some of the UK's biggest mortgage companies. In 2011-12 the Conveyancing Quality Scheme was officially recognised by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). CQS is not a scheme offered by the Council of Licensed Conveyancing. West Thurrock is one of the numerous areas of the UK where there are Accredited lawyers.

What can a local search inform me about the house I am purchasing in West Thurrock?

West Thurrock conveyancing often starts with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for instance Onsearch The local search is essential in every West Thurrock conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your new home. The search should provide data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject areas.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in last month in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. West Thurrock is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can impart?

Flying freeholds in West Thurrock are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside West Thurrock you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in West Thurrock 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.

West Thurrock Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

Please note if it is less than eighty years it will affect the salability of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most West Thurrocklease extensions you would need to own the property for a couple of years before you are eligible to extend the lease. How many years are left on the lease? Most West Thurrock leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building set by the management company. Should you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this liability, normally quarterly accross the year. This may differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large sum, say about £25-£75 but you should to enquire as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds.