My husband and I are at the point of viewing flats in Kendal and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a solicitor appointed at this stage? I am planning to take a mortgage with Virgin Money.

It would be advisable to commence your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the EA. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Virgin Money, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel.

I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Kendal. I have a mortgage agreed with Leeds Building Society. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?

It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Leeds Building Society, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Kendal. My mortgage broker suggested a property lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £200. Soon after, the lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Leeds Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I require expedited conveyancing in Kendal as I have a deadline to sign on the dotted line inside 4 weeks. Luckily I do not require a mortgage. Is it possible to avoid the conveyancing searches to save money and time?

If.Given you are are a mortgage free purchaser you are at liberty not to do searches although no solicitor would advise that you don't. Drawing on years of experience of conveyancing in Kendal the following are instances of issues that can crop up and adversely impact the marketability of the property: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Charges, Outstanding Grants, Road Schemes,...

What does commercial conveyancing in Kendal cover?

Kendal conveyancing for business premises covers a broad array of services, given by regulated solicitors, relating to business property. For example, this type of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more usually, the transfer of existing leases or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial loans and the termination of tenancies.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kendal with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kendal can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ conveyancers.
A minority of Kendal leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors. If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Kendal home move. Where a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later. You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

I own a studio flat in Kendal, conveyancing having been completed 10 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Kendal with a long lease are worth £185,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2084

With just 60 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £20,000 and £23,000 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

We are purchasing a four bedroom apartmentin Kendal with a home loan from a lender. We have selected a solicitor in Kendal however our bank says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint from the our lender panel solicitors or keep our Kendal conveyancer and pay for one of their panel ones to represent our lender. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

No, not really. The bank mortgage issued is subject to conditions, one of which will be that solicitors will on the bank's conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had open panels, including many conveyancing solicitors in Kendal : a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.