My husband and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Blackley with Kent Reliance. 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 questions (1) Is this form unique to the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 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 Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance. This is solely used to protect Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance 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.

We are downsizing from our property in Blackley and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. Any local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers instructed an internet conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Blackley. We have lived in Blackley for many years we know of no issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain clarification that there is no issue.

It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer already. Are they able to advise? You should check with 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 illness)

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Blackley?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Blackley. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Blackley is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can give?

Flying freeholds in Blackley are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Blackley you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Blackley may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

Your search tool is useful but there are many lawyers listed near Blackley being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. It would be a lot more helpful if you could recommend a specific firm on the conveyancing panel for our bank?

We are not in the business of recommending one firm above another as the right Blackley conveyancing solicitor for you depends on where your priorities lie. For example you may require a local firm with Blackley knowledge or you might be looking for the low cost conveyancing. We recommend that you speak to 3 or 4 lawyers listed before you make your choice..