My fiance and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Bagshot with Nationwide. 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 flat is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Nationwide conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his entitlement 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 Nationwide. This is solely used to protect Nationwide 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 Nationwide 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.

Having sold my house in Bagshot last April but my buyer keeps SMS messaging daily to say his lawyer needs to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale formalities following completion?

Post completion of your sale your solicitor is duty bound to forward the transfer deeds and all supplemental paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Depending on the transaction, your conveyancer should also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been discharged to the purchasers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion steps specific conveyancing in Bagshot.

I used Stirling Law a few years past for my conveyancing in Bagshot. I now require my papers however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?

You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down 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 Bagshot 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've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Bagshot is the location of the property. Can you offer any advice?

Flying freeholds in Bagshot are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Bagshot you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Bagshot may ascertain 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 Seventy years left on my flat in Bagshot. I need to extend my lease 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 Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Bagshot.

Bagshot Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

It is important to be aware whether a new roof is being put on or some other major work is anticipated to be shared amongst the leaseholders and may well materially impact the level of the maintenance charges or necessitate a specific invoice. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the lessees have being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is frequently employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.