My partner and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Smithfield with Principality. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Principality conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Principality conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Principality. This is solely used to protect Principality if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Principality had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.

What does a local search tell me regarding the property I am buying in Smithfield?

Smithfield conveyancing often starts with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for example PSG The local search plays an important part in most Smithfield conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any nasty once you have moved into your new home. The search should supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject areas.

It has been 3 months since my purchase conveyancing in Smithfield completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am buying a new build apartment in Smithfield. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.

Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Smithfield

The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier?

My conveyancing in Smithfield completes on Friday, yet the people I am buying off wishes to vacate the next day at noon. Do I accept this?

In situations where you are having a mortgage then your solicitor will require that the premises arevacant on Friday - the mortgage company will compel it.