Completed the sale of my flat in Little Burstead last August but our buyer keeps Skype messaging me to moan that her lawyer needs to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale formalities following completion?

Following your disposal your conveyancer should deliver the transfer documentation and all additional paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Depending on the transaction, your conveyancer should also evidence that the mortgage has been paid off to the purchasers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion procedures specific conveyancing in Little Burstead.

The Little Burstead conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Little Burstead have suddenly shut down. They were on acting for me because I needed a firm on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel and my previous Little Burstead lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for £250 in advance. What are my options?

If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will 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 Kent Reliance 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 lawyers may be able to assist.

I purchased a terraced Georgian property in Little Burstead. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Little Burstead and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

My husband and I are first time buyers - had an offer accepted, but the agent informed us that the seller will only issue a contract if we appoint the agent's recommended solicitors as they need an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Little Burstead

We suspect that the seller is unaware of this requirement. Should the seller desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated purchaser is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Try to communicate with the vendors directly and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are genuine buyers (b)you are ready to go, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you will continue to use your preferred Little Burstead conveyancing solicitors - as opposed tothose that will provide their negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or hit his conveyancing figures set by head office.

I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Little Burstead. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Little Burstead - 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 am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Little Burstead, conveyancing having been completed 3 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable properties in Little Burstead with over 90 years remaining are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2099

With 74 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.