My husband and I are buying a newly built duplex in Gillingham and my lawyer is telling me that she has to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the seller. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange and I have no desire to delay deal. Is my lawyer right?

You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

I am assisting my sister sell her flat in Gillingham. Will the solicitor order the energy performance certificate or it is for me to see to?

After the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy assessments remained a compulsory component of moving property. An energy performance certificate must be to hand before the property is advertised. It is not a task that conveyancers ordinarily organise. Where you are instructing a Gillingham conveyancing practitioner they may be able to arrange energy assessments given their relationships with long established local assessors

We previously selected solicitors based in Gillingham on the Principality solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a supplemental amount for the legal aspects of the Principality mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Principality?

Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancer can charge a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by Principality but by your Gillingham property lawyer. Numerous firms on the Principality panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of practices include it on their overall fee.

How can we tell if a Gillingham conveyancing solicitor on the Lloyds panel is any good?

When it comes to conveyancing in Gillingham obtaining recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one advertising the lowest fees. We would always advocate that you speak with the solicitor handling your conveyancing.

I used Stirling Law a few years past for my conveyancing in Gillingham. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Gillingham of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

About to purchase a new build apartment in Gillingham. Conveyancing is daunting 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 legal work.

Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Gillingham

Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? 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. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?

We recently discovered that one of the partners of the conveyancing practice handling the purchase conveyancing in Gillingham is related to the vendor. Is this allowed?

On the basis that no conflict arises this is allowable. Where you are requiring a mortgage then the bank may have a say as many mortgage companies have specific requirements concerning this. For example for Bradford & Bingley as of 26/8/2025, the requirements read as follows :