My fiance and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Lower Sunbury with UBS. We have a son 19 who lives with us. 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 forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the UBS 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 UBS 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 UBS. This is solely used to protect UBS 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 UBS 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.

I moved into my flat on 3 November and the transaction details is not yet on the land registry website. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Lower Sunbury advises it will be recorded inside ten days. Are transfers in Lower Sunbury particularly slow to register?

As far as conveyancing in Lower Sunbury registration is no quicker or slower than the rest of England and Wales. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can adjust subject to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry must send notices to any interested persons or bodies. As of today in the region of three quarters of submission are fully addressed within 12 days but some can be subject to extensive delays. Registration occurs after the buyer is living at the premises therefore an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue yet if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your lawyers could communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.

How does conveyancing in Lower Sunbury differ for newly converted properties?

Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Lower Sunbury approach us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is finished. This is because developers in Lower Sunbury typically buy the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Lower Sunbury or who has acted in the same development.

My cousin has suggested that I instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Lower Sunbury. Should I use them?

Much as we are happy to recommend a Lower Sunbury conveyancing lawyer the ideal way to find a conveyancing practitioner is to seek referrals from friends or relatives who have used the conveyancer that you are considering.

Would local authority permission be required to change a single dwelling into two flats in Lower Sunbury? This has taken place to a house adjacent to my home in Lower Sunbury and was ignorant of it happening until after the works were complete.

Planning Permission yes. Building Regulations yes.