My fiance and I changing mortgage lender for our apartment in Thatcham with Aldermore. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Aldermore conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing 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 Aldermore. This is solely used to protect Aldermore 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 Aldermore 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.

We wish to acquire a newbuild flat in Thatcham with a homeloan from HSBC Bank.We would like to retain our Thatcham conveyancing solicitor but HSBC Bank informed us she’s not listed on their approved list of firms. We have to appoint a HSBC Bank panel lawyer or keep our high street solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?

Unfortunately,no. The home loan offered to you contains terms and conditions, one of which will be that solicitors must be on the HSBC Bank conveyancing panel. in the past, most mortgage companies had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for HSBC Bank

What is the difference between a licensed conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor in Thatcham

There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in Thatcham and Solicitor partnerships in Thatcham who can assist with your conveyancing We would stress that the two are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal work in transferring property. Both can handle associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, enfranchisement and transfer of equity conveyancing.

After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Thatcham. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an advanced payment of £225. Soon after, the conveyancer contacted me to say that they were not on the Santander conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Santander panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in October 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Barclays are being difficult. The Thatcham solicitor who is on the Barclays conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Barclays are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Barclays have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Barclays have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Barclays 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.

Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Thatcham. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Thatcham - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Thatcham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

The answer will be important as a) areas may cause problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will need to have complete disclosure Who is in charge of the building? How long is the Lease?

My partner and I have recently had a bid accepted on our 1st house in Thatcham, and are now looking to get solicitors lined up. I have utilised the numerous rating based websites and the results are from all over the the UK. Is it critical to have a Thatcham lawyer local to the prospective new home? We are happy to do all the communicating electronically, but I assume at some point we will be required to visit the solicitor's office to sign papers?

Usually there is no need to attend the office of your solicitor, they can send any relevant papers to you, which you can sign and return. Many buyers and sellers nevertheless opt to instruct a locally based solicitor, but it's by no means essential for conveyancing in Thatcham.