My partner and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette in Stocksbridge with Virgin Money. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose 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 forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise 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 Virgin Money. This is solely used to protect Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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.

Why do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Stocksbridge?

Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Stocksbridge your lawyer will request that you put them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is payable against the sale price then this should be needed immediately ahead of exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a couple of days ahead of the completion date.

The Stocksbridge conveyancing firm that just started acting on my house acquisition in Stocksbridge have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel and my previous Stocksbridge lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What should be my next steps?

Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Stocksbridge is where the house is located. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Stocksbridge are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Stocksbridge you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Stocksbridge may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years remaining on my flat in Stocksbridge. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Stocksbridge.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Stocksbridge - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

For most Stocksbridge leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be wrapped into the maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Stocksbridge obliged leasehold owners to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Most Stocksbridge leasehold flats will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the block levied on behalf of the landlord. Should you purchase the flat you will have to pay this liability, usually quarterly accross the year. This can be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a significant amount, say around £25-£75 but you should to enquire it because occasionally it could be prohibitively expensive. Be sure to enquire if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Stocksbridge. If you love the flatin Stocksbridge yet your cat can’t move with you then you will be presented with a hard compromise.