My husband and I swapping mortgage lender for our flat in Darlington with Barclays. We have a son 19 who lives at home. 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, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Barclays conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Barclays 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 Barclays. This is solely used to protect Barclays 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 Barclays 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.

It is 10 years ago since I purchased my property in Darlington. Conveyancing solicitors have now been retained on the sale but I can't track down my deeds. Is this a major issue?

You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be retained by the mortgage company or they may still be with the conveyancers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly the chances are that the title will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors acquiring current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Darlington relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.

When it comes to mortgage companies such as HSBC, do Darlington property lawyers incur an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?

We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.

is it true that all Darlington conveyancing solicitors on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?

As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Leeds Building Society approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the practice would be overseen by the CLC.

My sealed bid on a semi in Darlington has been accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have put an offer on a property, but it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other apartments booked. I have selected a local conveyancing solicitor in Darlington. What should be my next step? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with Lloyds?

It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, Darlington conveyancing search costs, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your conveyancer is on the Lloyds approved list. Regarding the next steps this very much depends on the specifics of your transaction, motivation for the property and on the state of the market. In a rising market many home buyers would apply for the mortgage with Lloyds and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancing practitioner to move forward with the conveyancing in Darlington.

I purchased my home on 9 July and my personal details is not yet on the land registry website. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Darlington advises it would be registered in less than a month. Are properties in Darlington particularly slow to register?

There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Darlington registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can adjust subject to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry need to notify any interested persons or bodies. At present approximately three quarters of such applications are fully addressed in less than three weeks but some can be subject to extensive hold-ups. Registration takes place after the purchaser is living at the property therefore registration formalities is not usually an essential issue yet if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor should speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.

I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Darlington. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Darlington.

Darlington Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other significant cost is due shortly that will be shared by the leasehold owners and may well materially increase the the maintenance costs or result in a one time invoice. Is there a share of the freehold?