The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Swanley. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.

Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Swanley

If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please supply a car parking plan. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Swanley I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Swanley in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

I am four weeks into a leasehold purchase having been recommend to conveyancers by the selling agent to execute conveyancing in Swanley. We are not happy. Can you you assist me in finding new lawyers?

They would need to be very bad to suggest diss instructing them. Has the mortgage offer been issued? In the event that it has you will need to advise them of the new solicitor and have the offer are re-issued. The conveyancer should be on the mortgage company panel to avoid supplemental charges and frustration. So that should be your first question of the new solicitors. Our find a solicitor tool will help you find a bank approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Swanley

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Swanley conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Swanley conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Swanley conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions might be useful:

What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing? If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Swanley conveyancing firm to assist?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Swanley conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Swanley premises 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 term was 76 years.

My cousin is buying a basement flat in Swanley. He was given a quote by the property lawyer connected to the estate agents and it came to £1245 . It was ten years ago I sold and purchased a home and the bill was £440. Have fees really gone up that much?

What does the conveyancing estimate include? Is it just for the legal fees, or what you will be paying in total (for instance Swanley searches, land registry fees, etc)