My husband and I are looking to buy a home in Rainham Kent and are in fact using a Rainham Kent conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Rainham Kent solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?

When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Rainham Kent solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.

Is there a reason why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Rainham Kent is more expensive?

Rainham Kent leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.

Do I find a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Rainham Kent?

There are many recorded licenced Conveyancers in Rainham Kent and Solicitor partnerships in Rainham Kent to choose from It is important to make clear that the two are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal work in the home buying process. Both can handle other property legal work such as remortgage conveyancing, enfranchisement and transfer of equity conveyancing.

I am expecting a OIP from Co-operative this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Co-operative recommend any Rainham Kent solicitors on the Co-operative conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?

You will need to appoint Rainham Kent solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Co-operative through the process.

Having digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Rainham Kent solicitor - who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?

Kent Reliance will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Kent Reliance will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Rainham Kent surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. Rainham Kent is the location of the property. Can you offer any advice?

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

I work for a busy estate agent office in Rainham Kent where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Rainham Kent conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Rainham Kent, conveyancing having been completed in 2012. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Rainham Kent with an extended lease are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2092

You have 66 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £11,400 and £13,200 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.