My husband and I are refinancing our apartment in Caversham with UBS. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults 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 property is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the UBS conveyancing panel as he did not need 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 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.

My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Caversham. Conveyancing is needed. What is next?

Given that you have now legally bound yourself to purchase you will need to retain a conveyancing practitioner quickly as you are facing a pending a drop dead date to complete the conveyancing. Every auction property should have a bespoke auction pack. This should include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. If you have purchased leasehold premises the legal pack may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation specific to a leasehold property. You must hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding organised to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

My wife and I purchasing a end of terrace house in Caversham. Our aim is to carry out a loft conversion at the property.Will legal investigations on the property involve checks to see if these alterations were previously refused?

Your solicitor should check the deeds as conveyancing in Caversham can on occasion reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prevent categories of changes or need the consent of a 3rd party. Some works need local authority planning permissions and approval in accordance building regulations. Certain areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or impact extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.

Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Caversham. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?

All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. 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.

What does a local search tell me about the property my wife and I purchasing in Caversham?

Caversham conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company such as Onsearch The local search is essential in every Caversham conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your new home. The search will reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject areas.

How does conveyancing in Caversham differ for new build properties?

Most buyers of new build residence in Caversham approach us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is constructed. This is because new home sellers in Caversham usually buy the land, 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 used to new build conveyancing in Caversham or who has acted in the same development.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold flat in Caversham. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Caversham who previously acted has long since retired. What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Caversham conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Caversham - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders have control and although a managing agent is usually employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Is there a share of the freehold? Who manages the building?