I was informed recently by my IFA that my Swanscombe lawyer is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. What can I do to check?

You need to call your Swanscombe conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the approved list of lawyers for your lender.

three months have elapsed since my purchase conveyancing in Swanscombe completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I was pointed in your direction by numerous property agents in Swanscombe to select a solicitor on your site. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to recommend your site over and above another?

We don’t make any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

My husband and I are novice buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the agent advised that the vendor will only move forward if we use the agent's recommended lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Swanscombe

We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. If they want ‘a quick sale', alienating a motivated buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Avoid the agents and go straight to the owners and explain that (a)you are genuine buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you will continue to appoint your own,trusted Swanscombe conveyancing lawyers - rather thanthose that will earn the estate agent a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing thresholds demanded by senior management.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Swanscombe. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I have had difficulty in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Swanscombe. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Swanscombe conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Swanscombe property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.