My husband and I intend to remortgage our flat in Kingston Park with . We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults 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 questions (1) Is this form unique to the conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise 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 . This is solely used to protect 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 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.

Is it the case that all Kingston Park solicitors on the conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?

As solicitors, in order to be on the approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.

I have a mortgage with for my property in Kingston Park. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform ?

You must advise prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of ’s mortgage conditions. It may be that will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact directly. You need not do this via a conveyancing panel lawyer.

I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in February 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, are being difficult. The Kingston Park solicitor who is on the conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house are lost. The solicitors who conducted the conveyancing in Kingston Park 10 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?

In today’s world there are copies made of almost everything, and your conveyancer should know exactly where to look for all the suitable paperwork so you can purchase or dispose of your house without any difficulty. Where copies are not available, your conveyancer can arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities against future claims on your property.

I am buying a new build flat in Kingston Park. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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.

Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Kingston Park

The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Please supply a car parking plan. 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. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? 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.

I was pointed in your direction by numerous property agents in Kingston Park to select a solicitor on your site. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to market your services over and above a competitor’s?

We refuse to give any financial incentive for directing people in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand a fee as members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.