My friend advised me that where I am buying in Maidstone I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?

This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Maidstone conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Maidstone around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Maidstone.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Maidstone is the location of the property. Can you offer any advice?

Flying freeholds in Maidstone are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Maidstone you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Maidstone may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

My father-in-law has recommend that I instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Maidstone. Do I follow his advice?

Much as we are happy to recommend a Maidstone conveyancing lawyer the ideal way to select a conveyancing lawyer is to seek feedback from friends or family who have actually previously instructed the solicitor you're contemplating using.

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Maidstone. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, however I have recently received a half-yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge as you normally would given that all ground rent and service payments will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I acquired a leasehold flat in Maidstone, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Maidstone with an extended lease are worth £176,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2076

You have 50 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £31,400 and £36,200 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

At long last our conveyancing in Maidstone is completing on Friday, however the couple I am buying off wants to move out 24 hours later at noon. Do I agree to such a plan?

You can't complete on a Saturday because the bank systems aren't operational.