My husband and I swapping mortgage lender for our flat in Beacontree Heath with Skipton. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Skipton conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 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 Skipton 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 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.

Will conveyancers ask for money on account for my conveyancing in Beacontree Heath?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Beacontree Heath your lawyer will ask you place them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Ordinarily this is needed to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. If any deposit is payable against the total price then this should be required shortly ahead of exchange of contracts. The final balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a few days ahead of the day of completion.

The deeds to my house are lost. The solicitors who handled the conveyancing in Beacontree Heath 10 years ago no longer exist. What are my options?

These day there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your conveyancer should know precisely where to find all the appropriate paperwork so you may buy or dispose of your property without a hitch. If duplicates can’t be found, your conveyancer can arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities against possible claims on the premises.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Beacontree Heath. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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 conveyancing.

Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Beacontree Heath

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. 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. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company?

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Beacontree Heath. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can one apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Beacontree Heath conveyancing firm to represent me?

Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to determine the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Beacontree Heath flat is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 61.36 years.