My husband and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Pitstone with Lloyds. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he did not need 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?

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 Lloyds. This is solely used to protect Lloyds 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 Lloyds 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.

What does a local search reveal concerning the house my wife and I purchasing in Pitstone?

Pitstone conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for example Onsearch The local search is essential in every Pitstone conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your new home. The search will provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic areas.

I used Stirling Law a few years past for my conveyancing in Pitstone. Now, I need the documents but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?

You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Pitstone of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

I have been on the look out for a flat up to £195,000 and found one near me in Pitstone I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Pitstone suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?

If you need a mortgage that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Pitstone with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Pitstone can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ solicitors.
Many landlords or managing agents in Pitstone levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold home. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Pitstone. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Pitstone leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such works. If you dont have the consents in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand. A minority of Pitstone leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

Pitstone Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

What is the length of the lease? The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold reversion is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants have control and although a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. Is the freehold owned jointly by the leaseholders?