My fiance and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Haxby with Yorkshire BS. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 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 repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish 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 Yorkshire BS. This is solely used to protect Yorkshire 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 Yorkshire 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.

It is is a decade since I purchased my house in Haxby. Conveyancing lawyers have recently been retained on the sale but I am unable to find the title deeds. Is this a problem?

Don’t worry too much. First the deeds may be retained by your lender or they may be in the possession of the conveyancers who handled your purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Haxby relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.

Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Haxby. Conveyancing is a frightening process 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 are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Haxby

Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. 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. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision.

I have been pointed in your direction by numerous selling agents in Haxby to find a solicitor using your seach tool. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to market your services rather than another?

We refuse to offer any commission for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Haxby with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Haxby can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
A minority of Haxby leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors. If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Haxby home move. Where a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later. You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Haxby Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

It would be prudent to find out as much as possible regarding the company managing the block as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily matters such as the tidiness of the common parts. Ask other people if they are happy with their service. On a final note, be sure you understand the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the appropriate party and specifically what it includes. How long is the Lease? Is there a share of the freehold?