My husband and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Greenwich with TSB. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults 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 repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the TSB conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights 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 TSB. This is solely used to protect TSB 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 TSB 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.

Finally the sale completed on my house in Greenwich last March yet the purchaser is calling me to say his solicitor is waiting to hear from mysolicitor. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?

Following your house sale your solicitor is obliged to forward the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the purchaser's lawyers. Depending on the transaction, your conveyancer should also confirm that the mortgage has been redeemed to the purchasers lawyers. There are no post completion requirements peculiar conveyancing in Greenwich.

How can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my commercial premises in Greenwich and how can you help?

The 1954 Act affords protection to commercial tenants, granting the right to apply to court for a continuation of occupancy when the lease reaches an end. There are certain specified grounds that a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are involved. We are happy to direct you to commercial conveyancing solicitors who use the act for protection and assist with commercial conveyancing in Greenwich

Last April I purchased a leasehold house in Greenwich. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Having spent years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Greenwich. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Greenwich conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Greenwich flat is 73 Walerand Road in August 2012. the result of the findings of the Tribunal led to a premium to be paid for the extended lease in respect of Flat 73 in the sum of £10,040. The premium applicable in respect of Flat 85 was £5,710. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 72 years.

How diverse are the property related services that Greenwich conveyancing practices offer?

By and large Greenwich conveyancing organisations will provide various legal advice to residential and rural land proprietors, vendors, investors, landlords and tenants helping outwith some of the following:

Property sale conveyancing in Greenwich or elsewhere in the country Home purchase conveyancing in Greenwich and countrywide lifetime mortgages and equity release conveyancing representing landlords and seeking possession against tenants, licensees or squatters in and outside of Greenwich Non-contentious landlord & tenant matters Missing landlord applications by leaseholders to acquire their freehold