It is a dozen years since I bought my house in Kentish Town. Conveyancing solicitors have now been instructed on the sale but I am unable to find the title deeds. Is this a problem?

Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by your mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the solicitor who oversaw your purchase. Secondly in all probability the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in Kentish Town relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your home is not registered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.

I just bought a flat at auction in Kentish Town. Conveyancing is needed. What is next?

Given that you are now exchanged you should appoint a conveyancing practitioner as a matter of urgency as you now have a tight a fixed date to complete the purchase. An auction property will have a corresponding auction set of papers. This will include most,if not all of the paperwork that your lawyer will need. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the conveyancing pack may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork relating to a leasehold property. You should hand this to the solicitor instructed by you ASAP. You also need to ensure that you have funds in order to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

I have been told by my conveyancer that missing deeds insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Kentish Town?

The appropriate level of missing deeds indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Halifax and Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.

After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Kentish Town. My financial adviser suggested a solicitor. I paid an advanced payment of £225. A couple of days later, the conveyancer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the RBS 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 RBS 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.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Kentish Town?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Kentish Town. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I am purchasing a new build house in Kentish Town with a mortgage from Birmingham Midshires. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The estate agent advised me not disclose to my solicitor about the deal as it will jeopardize my loan with Birmingham Midshires. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.

I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Kentish Town ahead of instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to grant a mortgage on this type of premises.

It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can investigate further via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Kentish Town. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.