My husband and I are refinancing our apartment in Goring with Leeds Building Society. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society. This is solely used to protect Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society 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.

My fiance and I are buying a 1 bedroom flat in Goring with a mortgage from Barclays .We like our Goring conveyancing lawyer but Barclays says she’s not on their approved list of member firms. we are left little option but to use a Barclays panel lawyer or keep our preferred solicitor and pay for a Barclays panel lawyer to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Barclays use our lawyer?

Unfortunately,no. The loan offered to you is subject to its various provisions, a common one being that solicitors must be on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Barclays

Should my lawyer be raising enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Goring.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in Goring. There are those who acquire a property in Goring, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Lawyers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a various searches that can be initiated by the purchaser or by their solicitors which will figure out the risks in Goring. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard question of the vendor to determine whether the property has historically flooded. If flooding has previously occurred and is not revealed by the vendor, then a buyer may commence a compensation claim as a result of such an incorrect reply. A buyer’s conveyancers may also order an environmental report. This will reveal whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further investigations should be conducted.

I have todayfound out that Wolstenholmes have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Goring for a purchase of a leasehold flat 9 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is in my name in the name of the previous owner?

The quickest method to check if the property is in your name, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Goring conveyancing specialists.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one near me in Goring I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Goring in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.