My partner and I are purchasing our first house. Our lawyer has texted usto enquire if we would like to order additional conveyancing searches. Unfortunately we are clueless as to what's relevant for conveyancing in Tunbridge Wells

The quantity and type of Tunbridge Wells conveyancing searches should be triggered based primarily on the property, the location, the probability of any of these risks, your familiarity of the locality and risks, your general approach to risk. What matters is that you adequately appreciate what information the searches could give you. Then you can make a decision if you consider that you need that information. Should you be uncertain, ask the conveyancing practitioner to guide you.

I used Stirling Law a few years ago for my conveyancing in Tunbridge Wells. I now require my papers however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Tunbridge Wells of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Tunbridge Wells. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.

Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Tunbridge Wells

Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Tunbridge Wells conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Tunbridge Wells conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Tunbridge Wells conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions might be useful:

What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

Tunbridge Wells Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying

The best form of lease structure is if the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this situation the leaseholders benefit from control and although a managing agent is frequently employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Plenty Tunbridge Wells leasehold apartments will have a service charge for maintenance of the building invoiced on behalf of the landlord. Where you purchase the flat you will have to pay this contribution, usually in instalments accross the year. This can differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, normally this is not a significant sum, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to check as sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments?

Me and my fiance have just had an offer accepted on a house and had an appointment on Tuesday with Nationwide for the mortgage. They have informed me that when it comes to appointing a conveyancer that unless they are on their approved list of conveyancing practitioners then we will have to pay out an additional charge of £250+. This is is due to the fact that they would then have to appoint a property lawyer to act on their behalf as well as the one we appoint on our behalf and we assume responsibility for their costs. I have requested Nationwide to provide me with a list so I can obtain estimates only from their approved conveyancers but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is there a simple way of finding out who is on a lender panel?

You can enquire of Nationwide what their criteria for panel membership is for a conveyancer.Then ask the lawyer of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on mortgages for Nationwide before. If the answer to those is yes, then just double check with Nationwide. Alternatively please use our search facility and we should be able to find you a solicitor in Tunbridge Wells on the panel for Nationwide.