My partner and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Castle Cary with . 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. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 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 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 . This is solely used to protect 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 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.

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Castle Cary. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?

Having legally committed yourself to purchase you now have to appoint a conveyancing practitioner as a matter of urgency as you are faced with a tight a fixed date to complete the transaction. An auction property will have a bespoke auction set of papers. This will likely include most,if not all of the paperwork that your conveyancer will need. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the auction papers may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation relating to a leasehold property. You need to give this to the solicitor instructed by you ASAP. You also need to ensure that you have funds in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

My uncle advised me that in buying a property in Castle Cary there may be a number of restrictions prohibiting external changes to the property. Is this right?

We are aware of anumerous of properties in Castle Cary which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Castle Cary should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I happen to be the single beneficiary of my late mum's will and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Castle Cary. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in . I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship could be considered the same way as if I'd bought the house in . Do I have to wait half a year to sell?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook obliges solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be caught by that. Most mortgage companies would take a practical view as this clause chiefly exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.

My wife and I purchased a semi-detached Georgian property in Castle Cary. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and . I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??

You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Castle Cary and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also question the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Castle Cary I like with a park and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Castle Cary suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?

If you require a home loan that many years may be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

I am short of a 10% deposit on my house purchase in Castle Cary , but I am keen exchange. Do I have options?

One option is to try and accept a lower deposit. Most property owners will accept a smaller deposit or even no deposit for a first time buyer or 100% mortgage. Be aware though that if you fail to complete you will still need to hand over a minimum of 10% of the purchase price regardless of how much deposit was agreed.

You can also agree a simultaneous exchange and completion as no deposit is required for this however neither party will be tied in until completion actually takes place and it can be risky if sellers change their mind at the last minute