I am buying a house without a mortgage in Dover. I have resided for the last dozen years in Dover. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. As I know the road and vicinity intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?

Provided that you do not need a home loan, then all but one or two of the Dover conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your lawyer will ’encourage you, no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches completed, but she is duty bound to do this. Do take into account; if you are likely to dispose of the house in the future, it will be of importance to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still show up unfavourable search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Dover will be able to give you some constructive guidance in this regard.

Finally the sale completed on my house in Dover last May yet the purchaser is e-mailing daily complaining that her solicitor is waiting to hear from myconveyancer. What should my lawyer have done now that I have sold?

Post completion of your sale your lawyer should send the transfer deeds and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. If applicable, your lawyer should also evidence that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been discharged to the purchasers lawyers. There are no post completion steps just for conveyancing in Dover.

Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Dover. My lender is Tesco Bank

Tesco Bank have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 3/11/2025, the requirements read as follows :

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Dover?

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Dover. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I would like to let out my leasehold flat in Dover. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Notwithstanding that your previous Dover conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I bought a 2 bed flat in Dover, conveyancing was carried out March 2005. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Dover with over 90 years remaining are worth £195,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2089

With 64 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £14,300 and £16,400 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.