My husband and I are refinancing our maisonette in Dartmouth with HSBC. We have a son 18 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 flat is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your HSBC 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 HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC 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 HSBC 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 are purchasing a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Dartmouth who is on the Virgin Money approved panel. Can you recommend a local solicitor?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Virgin Money . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Dartmouth.

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one close by in Dartmouth I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Dartmouth suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a home loan that many years will likely be an issue. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.

Are there any apps to help locate a Dartmouth solicitor on the HSBC Bank conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 10miles to meet the conveyancer.

You can use the facility on this website. Please select a lender and your location and you will see a number of Dartmouth conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have listed some Dartmouth conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to check whether they are on the HSBC Bank member panel

What makes a Dartmouth lease unacceptable for security purposes?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Dartmouth. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

A duty to insure the building A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Dartmouth Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

This question is important as a) areas could 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 managing agents you will wish to have full disclosure The best form of lease arrangement is where the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is frequently retained if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. Please note if it is fewer than eighty years it will impact the value of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for two years in order to be legally able to extend the lease.