My wife and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Stretford with Skipton. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Skipton conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 Skipton. This is solely used to protect Skipton 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 Skipton 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.

I am helping my niece sell her house in Stretford. Will the conveyancing solicitor order an EPC or do I organise this?

After the abolition of Home Packs, EPC’s was maintained a compulsory component of selling a house. An energy assessment must be commissioned in advance of the property being advertised. It is not as aspect of the sale process that conveyancers ordinarily arrange. Where you are instructing a Stretford conveyancing lawyer they might be able to arrange EPC’s given their contacts with reputable Stretford assessors

I'm the sole beneficiary of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Stretford. The Stretford property was put into my name in April. I now wish to sell up. I do know about the CML 6 month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship could be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in April. Will no one buy the property for half a year?

The CML handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be caught by that. Most lenders would take a practical view as this obligation is principally there to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of property.

I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Stretford on 15/3/2024, valuation was booked 3 days after, all came back fine. Solicitor retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Bank of Ireland and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Bank of Ireland to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

We are downsizing from our house in Stretford and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. A local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers are using an internet conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Stretford. Having lived in Stretford for six years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to get confirmation that there is no issue.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)

Am I right to be suspicious by brokers that I am dealing with are recommending a web based conveyancing firm rather than a local Stretford conveyancing firm?

As with lots of service providers, often recommendations from connections can be extremely useful or valuable. Nevertheless there are numerous players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, financial adviser and banks may suggest solicitors to retain. Sometimes the lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there exists a commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You are free to select your own lawyer. You need to be aware that some mortgage providers specify a panel list of conveyancers you have to use for the lender related work in your home move.

At what stage do I incur the Stamp Duty Land Tax due for my Stretford house purchase?

The majority of conveyancers will complete a stamp duty return on your behalf during your Stretford conveyancing transaction for signature. After completion your lawyer will submit the STL Return Form to the Tax Authorities and - as long as they have the funds - pay any Stamp Duty liability on your behalf.