My wife and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse in Lound with Nottingham. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Nottingham conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Nottingham 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 Nottingham. This is solely used to protect Nottingham 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 Nottingham 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.

What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Lound? Is this really warranted?

You are right in these requests have nothing to do with conveyancing in Lound. Nowadays you can not proceed with any conveyancing process without first handing over evidence of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence as well as a bank statement. Remember if you are supplying your driving licence as proof of ID it needs to be both the paper section and photo card part, one is not satisfactory without the other.

Evidence of the origin of funds is mandated under Money Laundering Regulations. Please do not be offended when when this is requested of you as your conveyancer must have this information on record. Your Lound conveyancing practitioner will need to see evidence of proof of funds prior to accepting any money from you into their client account and they may also ask additional questions regarding the origin of monies.

Is it correct that all Lound CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing list of approved firms?

A selection of banks and building societies now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to remain on their panels.

Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Lound. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.

UBS have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a property in Lound has been agreed to, what happens next?

The estate agent will need to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the solicitors are on the bank’s panel). Contact UBS or the financial adviser and finish off any appropriate forms. UBS will sellect a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or owners to arrange an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. UBS will issue the offer to you and your lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Lound.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Lound where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Lound conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Lound - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Make sure you enquire if the the lease contains any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Lound. If you love the flatin Lound but your cat can’t move with you then you have a very difficult determination. Who are the managing agents? It would be prudent to find out as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues such as the cleanliness of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of them. Finally, be sure you understand the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the managing agents and specifically what you get for your money.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Lound. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Lound ?

Most houses in Lound are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Lound so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Lound conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.