My fiance and I are looking to buy a flat in Herne Bay and are in fact using a Herne Bay conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Scotland have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Herne Bay lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?

If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Herne Bay lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.

My wife and I are getting closer to an exchange on a property in Herne Bay and my parents have transferred the exchange deposit to my lawyer. I am now informed that as the deposit has not come from me my solicitor needs to disclose this to my mortgage company. Apparently, in also acting for the bank he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I disclosed to the mortgage company regarding my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for this now to be an issue?

Your lawyer is legally required to clarify with the bank to ensure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. The solicitor can only notify this to your lender if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.

The Herne Bay conveyancing lawyers that just started acting on my house acquisition in Herne Bay have suddenly closed. They were on acting for me because I needed a solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel and my preferred Herne Bay lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What do I do now?

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the TSB conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to assist.

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Herne Bay. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Herne Bay - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I own a garden flat in Herne Bay, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Herne Bay with a long lease are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2083

You have 59 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £20,900 and £24,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

Is there a reason that Herne Bay conveyancing fees are higher for leasehold and freehold properties?

Inevitably there is more work required in leasehold conveyancing. Herne Bay has many leasehold properties. There is more time involved in the purchase: for example, the lease and leasehold information (including up to date service charge, ground rent and buildings insurance details) obtained from the freeholder or managing agents. There are strict criteria that the lease must meet in order to be acceptable to a mortgage company. If it does not meet these requirements, the lease must be amended, which can involve additional expense for the seller.