My husband and I intend to remortgage our flat in Penylan with Skipton. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Skipton conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 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.

Should lawyers request money up-front for my conveyancing in Penylan?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Penylan your solicitor will ask you place them with funds to cover the search fees. Generally this is asked for to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. When the down payment is as part of the total price then this should be required immediately before exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer a few days ahead of the day of completion.

Will my solicitor be asking questions concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Penylan.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers carrying out conveyancing in Penylan. Some people will buy a house in Penylan, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Conveyancers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a number of searches that can be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should give them a better understanding of the risks in Penylan. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms supplied to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual question of the vendor to discover whether the premises has ever been flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the vendor, then a buyer may bring a compensation claim stemming from an incorrect reply. A purchaser’s solicitors may also commission an enviro search. This will disclose whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be made.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Penylan. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Penylan should include some of the following:

You should be informed what counts as a Nuisance in the lease Your conveyancers should enable you to have an understanding of the insurance requirements Who has the liability to repair and maintain the block. It is important for you to know who is responsible the repair and maintenance of every part of the building Defining your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the building.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?

I bought a 2 bed flat in Penylan, conveyancing was carried out in 2000. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Penylan with over 90 years remaining are worth £170,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2102

You have 78 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £7,600 and £8,800 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

When it comes to my conveyancing in Penylan should I be charged VAT on the following: (1) Land reg fee on purchase (2) Pre - completion search fee (3) SDLT E submission on purchase (4) Bank TT fee

(1) Land reg fee on purchase - No (2) Pre - completion search fees -No, (such conveyancing searches are HMLR ones and means £4 and possibly £2 bankruptcy per name on your mortgage) (3) SDLT E submission on your purchase - There is no VAT on Stamp Duty. However if the firm is charging a stamp duty e-submission fee as part of their services - some Penylan conveyancers do - that will incur VAT(4) Bank transfer fee - Yes it is for the conveyancer's time in submitting the funds this way.