My partner and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette in St Neots with Skipton. 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. 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 Skipton conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 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 Skipton 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 Skipton. This is solely used to protect Skipton 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 Skipton 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 have an AIP. The bank mentioned the home loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to use their panel lawyer as I would much rather instruct a high street conveyancing solicitor in St Neots?

Do check but the the probability is that allocate you one of their panel conveyancers if you take up the "fee-free" deal. Speak to the lender and determine if they offer you a cash alternative. Some mortgage companies have previously offered a £250 cashback as a further option in which case you could put that amount towards your preferred conveyancing solicitor in St Neots.

I need to find a conveyancing solicitor for remortgage conveyancing in St Neots. I have land on a site which appears to be the perfect offering If there is a chance to get all formalities done via email that would be ideal. Do I need to be concerned? What should out be looking out for?

As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?

I’m about to sell my garden flat in St Neots. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice as normal as all rents and service invoices will be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I bought a leasehold flat in St Neots, conveyancing formalities finalised July 2008. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in St Neots with over 90 years remaining are worth £211,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2093

With just 68 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Are St Neots conveyancing solicitors duty bound by the Law Society to supply transparent conveyancing figures?

Inbuilt into the Solicitors Code of Conduct are set rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their charges to clients.The Law Society have a practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not intended as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, however, constitute the Law Society’s perspective of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in St Neots or beyond.