My financial adviser has asked me for my West Malling solicitor’s panel reference for the HSBC conveyancing panel. How do I discover this. I have called my local West Malling branch but they don't know it.

Have you tried calling your West Malling conveyancing practitioner about this?. They retain a central record lender panel numbers.

Do lenders provide you with an approved list of West Malling conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel?

West Malling conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Kent Reliance directly.

We're in West Malling, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is HSBC , and our solicitor is on the HSBC conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?

The fact that your lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no lawyer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.

A relative suggested that where I am purchasing in West Malling I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?

A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your West Malling conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about West Malling around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the West Malling Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, West Malling Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about West Malling.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in West Malling. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in West Malling should include some of the following:

Changes to the property An explanation concerning the obligations in the lease to pay service charges - in respect of the block, and the more general rights a lessee has specifics of the parties to the lease, e.g. these could be the (you), head lessor, landlord Ground rent - how much and when is collected, and be on notice if this will change in the future Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or working from home

I own a 1st floor flat in West Malling, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in West Malling with an extended lease are worth £222,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2097

You have 71 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.