As someone not used to conveyancing in Kent what’s your top tip you can give me concerning the home moving process in Kent
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Kent or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is plenty of room for conflict between you and other parties involved in the transaction. E.g., the seller, selling agent and sometimes your bank. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Kent an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the process whose interest is to act in your best interests and to keep you safe.
We are witnessing a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be blamed for the process taking so long. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer ahead of all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
Are the BSA intent on creating a search tool with a view to to identify law firms on the Loughborough BS conveyancing panel for example in Kent?
Lexsure has not been advised of any intention on the part of the BSA to develop such a search facility.
My wife and I are purchasing a property in Kent. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a conveyancer? On the day of competition we have to put funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Kent. Do I pick up the keys to the premises on the completion date from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Kent?
On the day of completion you do not need to go to the conveyancers office in Kent. Your solicitors will arrange to send the purchase money to the vendor’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you should be able to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
My sealed bid on a detached house in Kent has been accepted, the sellers do however have a connected purchase. The owners have offered on somewhere, however it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have selected a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Kent. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with Nottingham going?
It is normal to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (home loan application is approx £1k, then valuation, Kent conveyancing search costs, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Regarding the next phase this very much dictated by the specifics of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market some home buyers would apply for a home loan with Nottingham and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancer to move forward with the conveyancing in Kent.
I have recentlydiscovered that Action Conveyancing have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Kent for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 9 months ago. How can I check that the property is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?
The easiest way to see if the premises is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Kent conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in Kent differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Kent come to us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is constructed. This is because builders in Kent tend to buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Kent or who has acted in the same development.
I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Kent where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Kent conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
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 buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 invested in buying a split level flat in Kent, conveyancing formalities finalised August 2005. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Kent with an extended lease are worth £176,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2076
You have 50 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £31,400 and £36,200 plus costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.