We are a couple about to sign contracts for a ground floor flat in Thornton. We encountered a snag. Our mortgage offer with Yorkshire Building Society runs out on 19/3/2026 but the sellers are suggesting a completion date of 23/3/2026. Is it possible to extend the mortgage expiry date?

The person best placed to address this issue is your solicitors who will hopefully assess if he or she is corresponding with the lender, owner’s lawyers, property agents or indeed all parties taking into account the circumstances your transaction as of today.

Please explain the implications if my solicitor is removed from the Kent Reliance Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Thornton?

First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.

Will our conveyancer be making enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Thornton.

Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers conducting conveyancing in Thornton. Plenty of people will purchase a property in Thornton, fully aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or dispose of the property. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.

Lawyers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a number of searches that can be initiated by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which should figure out the risks in Thornton. The conventional set of property information forms given to a buyer’s solicitor (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) incorporates a usual question of the vendor to find out if the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that the property has been flooded in past and is not disclosed by the vendor, then a purchaser may issue a compensation claim resulting from an incorrect response. The purchaser’s lawyers may also commission an enviro search. This will indicate whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations will need to be made.

Me and my brother have a semi-detached Edwardian house in Thornton. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Skipton Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You should review 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 Thornton 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 purchasers. You can also question the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I am looking for a flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Thornton I like with open areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Thornton for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.