I am planning on selling our home in St Mary Cray and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street St Mary Cray lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers used an internet conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in St Mary Cray. We have lived in St Mary Cray for many years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation need.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You need to check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same illness)

I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in St Mary Cray I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in St Mary Cray suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?

If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be an issue. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.

I have been sourcing a conveyancing lawyer in St Mary Cray for my house move. Is it possible to see a solicitor's complaints history with the legal regulator?

Anyone may review presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from inquisitions commenced on or after 1 January 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could monitor call for training reasons.

Last June I purchased a leasehold flat in St Mary Cray. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

After years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St Mary Cray. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a St Mary Cray residence is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 50.57 years.

22 days into purchasing a residence in St Mary Cray. Conveyancing solicitor has told us the property is "Leasehold". Should this make a difference on the marketability of the house?

St Mary Cray conveyancing does not ordinarily involve leasehold houses. The main factor here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a peppercorn rent, it's almost the same as freehold, so it’s unlikely to affect the saleability significantly.

At the other extreme, if it's, say, fifty five years it is bound to have a adverse effect on the value, and probably wouldn't be acceptable to the mortgage company. The length of lease and ground rent will be stated in the lease to be supplied to your property lawyer.