My fiance and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Shaftesbury with Coventry BS. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. 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 a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Coventry BS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights 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 Coventry BS. This is solely used to protect Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS 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.
I have 70 years unexpired on my lease and require a lease extension for my flat in Shaftesbury. Conveyancing solicitors on the Virgin panel can deal with such extensions correct?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are getting a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Virgin have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 7/2/2025 the requirements read as follows :
About to purchase a new build apartment in Shaftesbury. Conveyancing is daunting 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 conveyancing.
Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Shaftesbury
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The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. 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. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme.
Is it best to go with a Shaftesbury conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am purchasing? We have a good friend who can conduct the legal work but they are based over three hundred miles away.
The benefit of a local Shaftesbury conveyancing practice is that you can attend the office to execute documents, present your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local Shaftesbury know how is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If if people you trust used your friend and in the main were impressed that should surpass using an unknown Shaftesbury conveyancing lawyer just because they are local.
I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in Shaftesbury. I need to find out if they are listed on the lender's conveyancing panel. Could you advise?
One option is to phone the solicitor to check if they are on the bank's panel. If that does not help get in touch with us and we can make some checks for you. If they are not on the bank panel we can certainly arrange a quality conveyancing solicitor in Shaftesbury on the approved list for your lender.