My husband and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Valley with Nationwide. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Nationwide conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 3 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.

I have been told that property searches are the primary cause of delay in Valley house deals. Is this right?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Valley.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Valley?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Valley. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

We are 17 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the local agent to execute conveyancing in Valley. I am am starting to be dissatisfied with the level of service. Can you help me find new solicitors?

They would need to be very bad in order to consider replacing them. Has your loan offer been sent? If so you need to advise them of the replacement conveyancer and get the mortgage documents are re-issued. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the lenders approved list to avoid supplemental expenses and delays. So that should be your first question of the new lawyers. Our search tool can assist you in finding a lender approved solicitor for your home move in Valley

Planning to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Valley. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Valley should include some of the following:

Rent payments - how much and what the invoice dates are, and also know whether this will change in the future The physical ownership of the premises. This may be the flat itself but might include a roof area or storage are if applicable. An explanation as to the provision as set out in the lease to pay service charges - in respect of the block, and the wider rights a tenant has What you can do if an adjoining owner is in violation of a provision in their lease? Defining your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or hallways?

I purchased a 1 bedroom flat in Valley, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Valley with a long lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2098

With just 74 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.