My fiance and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse in Aldersgate with Co-operative. 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 lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Co-operative conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement 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 Co-operative. This is solely used to protect Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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.

Can you point me to a directory of Leeds Building Society panel solicitors in Aldersgate on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?

No. There is no such directory service on the CML or Building Society Association websites. A small selection of lending institutions make their panel listings available on the web. If you are looking for a Aldersgate solicitor on the Leeds Building Society please make the most of our tool.

We previously appointed conveyancing lawyers located in Aldersgate on the Santander solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a further charge for handling the Santander mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Santander?

As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancer can charge a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by Santander but by your Aldersgate property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Santander panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.

The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Aldersgate. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.

About to purchase a new build apartment in Aldersgate. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.

Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Aldersgate

Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Please supply a car parking plan. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease.

I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Aldersgate before retaining conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor advised that some banks may not grant a mortgage on such a house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Aldersgate. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Aldersgate especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Aldersgate.

I only have Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Aldersgate. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Aldersgate.

I own a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Aldersgate. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Aldersgate conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Aldersgate premises is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 72.39 years.