I decided to go with a local solicitor for my conveyancing in Kent recently. Going through the small print I seewe are liable for charges even where the conveyance does not complete. Should I go with them or choose a web based lawyer promising no-sale-no-fee conveyancing in Kent?

Generally there is a compromise along the lines that if "No Completion No Fee" is available then the fee levels will generally be uplifted to counteract the transactions that do not proceed. Also remember that these offerings tend not to protect you from outlay by way of example Kent conveyancing search expenses.

My father advised me that in purchasing a property in Kent there may be a number of restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external alterations to a property. Is this right?

We are aware of anumerous of properties in Kent which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Kent should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

We are getting the release of further funds on our home loan from Yorkshire BS as we wish to conduct renovations to our home in Kent. Do we need to choose a high street Kent solicitor on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

Yorkshire BS do not ordinarily appoint a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Yorkshire BS list.

I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Skipton. I assume I don't need a Kent lawyer on the Skipton panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.

If you have finished paying off your Skipton mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Skipton mortgage from the register. Skipton, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Skipton has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Skipton has instructed the Land Registry to do so

My colleague suggested that where I am buying in Kent I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

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

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one round the corner in Kent I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, however it's only got 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Kent for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kent from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kent can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
Some Kent leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale. If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Kent, conveyancing having been completed in 2004. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Kent with over 90 years remaining are worth £227,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2096

With only 71 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.