My wife and I swapping mortgage lender for our apartment in Evesham with Coventry BS. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose 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, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Coventry BS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS. This is solely used to protect Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS 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 partner and I are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our house in Evesham and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. Any local conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using a factory type conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Evesham. Having lived in Evesham for 5 years we know of no issue. Is it a good idea to get in touch with our local Authority to seek clarification need.

It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You need to check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Evesham. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.

Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Evesham

Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.

Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Evesham ahead of instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies may refuse to issue a mortgage on this type of premises.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Evesham. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Evesham. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Evesham are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Evesham in which case you should be looking for a Evesham conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out alterations. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Evesham - A selection of Queries before buying

It would be sensible to find out as much as you can concerning the company managing the block as they will either make living at the property much easier or uncomfortable. As the owner of a leasehold property you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to daily matters like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Enquire of other people if they are happy with their management. On a final note, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and precisely what you get for your money. What prohibitions are there in the Evesham Lease? Please note that where the lease has less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the premises for a couple of years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension.