It is is a decade since I bought my property in Witney. Conveyancing solicitors have just been retained on the sale but I can't locate the title documents. Is this a problem?

Don’t worry too much. Firstly the deeds may be kept by your lender or they could be archived with the solicitor who acted in the purchase. Secondly in all probability the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Witney relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.

What is the best way to discover of the solicitor carrying out my conveyancing in Witney is on the mortgage lender’sapproved panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for HSBC Bank thus paying £187.00 plus VAT in additional conveyancing fees.

You should take advantage of the find a lender approved solicitor tool on this site. Please choose the lender and type ‘Witney’ or your preferred area and you will see numerous conveyancers located in Witney or near you.

I am assisting my step-mother sell her house in Witney. Does the conveyancing solicitor order an energy assessment or it is for the owner to coordinate?

After the abolition of Home Information Packs, EPC’s was left as a compulsory component of selling a house. An energy assessment needs to be commissioned in advance of the property being put on the market. This is not a task that lawyers normally arrange. If you are instructing a Witney conveyancing practitioner they may be able to arrange energy performance certificates given their contacts with reputable Witney energy assessors

I'm the sole beneficiary of my late father’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Witney. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in January. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship may be regarded the same way as if I'd bought the property in January. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?

The CML handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be affected by that. Some mortgage companies would take a pragmatic view as this requirement is principally there to capture subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.

My offer was accepted on an apartment in Witney on 16/12/2025, valuation was booked 2 days after, all came back fine. Solicitor appointed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Aldermore and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Aldermore to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I am buying a new build house in Witney with a loan from Aldermore. The developers would not budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The sale representative advised me not to tell my conveyancer about the deal as it could impact my mortgage with Aldermore. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Witney is where the house is located. Can you offer any guidance?

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