My wife and I purchased a semi-detached Victorian property in Sheerness. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Skipton Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for 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 Sheerness and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I'm buying a new build house in Sheerness with a mortgage from Chelsea Building Society. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not disclose to my conveyancer about the side-deal as it could impact my loan with Chelsea Building Society. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I opted to have a survey carried out on a property in Sheerness ahead of retaining conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders tend not grant a mortgage on this type of house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can investigate further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Sheerness. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

Jane (my partner) and I may need to let out our Sheerness ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Sheerness conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Sheerness do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

I purchased a basement flat in Sheerness, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding properties in Sheerness with a long lease are worth £181,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2075

With only 50 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

Why is New Build conveyancing in Sheerness more expensive?

Buying a brand new property is significantly different from the normal house buying conveyancing in Sheerness. For a start housebuilders ordinarily insist contracts to exchange inside a short timeframe, so there is a lot of pressure on your property lawyer to make sure all is in order. In addition new build premises frequently involve examination of adoption of highways, drains, planning considerations, building warranties or architects certificates. Mortgage company obligations are also more detailed. Given the complex nature of the process for these types of properties, the conveyancing new build fees are higher than normal.