My wife and I are refinancing our flat in Llanarth with Leeds Building Society. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as he never had 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 Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society. This is solely used to protect Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society 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.

We are purchasing a property in Llanarth. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? On the day of competition we will need to put our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

I have paid off my mortgage with Virgin Money. I assume I don't need a Llanarth conveyancer on the Virgin Money panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?

If you have finished paying off your Virgin Money mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Virgin Money mortgage from the register. Virgin Money, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Virgin Money has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Virgin Money has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I can not fathom if my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my Llanarth building society branch on a couple of occasions and was told it wasn't a problem and they would lend. My Llanarth conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they refuse to lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I simply don't know who is right.

Provided that the solicitor is on the lender approved list, she or he must follow the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.

Will my solicitor be making enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Llanarth.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Llanarth. There are those who purchase a property in Llanarth, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, adequate insurance cover, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.

Solicitors are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that can be carried out by the buyer or by their conveyancers which should give them a better appreciation of the risks in Llanarth. The standard completed inquiry forms given to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual inquiry of the owner to discover whether the property has historically flooded. If the residence has been flooded in past and is not revealed by the vendor, then a purchaser may commence a compensation claim resulting from an misleading response. The purchaser’s solicitors will also order an environmental report. This will disclose if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further investigations will need to be conducted.

Am I right to be suspicious about third parties that I am dealing with are recommending a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a local Llanarth conveyancing practice?

As is the case with lots of professional services, often recommendations from connections can be worth their weight in gold. But there are many players in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, financial adviser and lenders might all recommend conveyancers to instruct. On occasion these conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but occasionally there may be a commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You have the right to appoint your own lawyer. However, bear in mind that the majority of mortgage providers specify a panel list of law firms you must use for the mortgage related work in your conveyancing.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Llanarth. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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 ensure 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).

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Llanarth, conveyancing having been completed in 1998. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in Llanarth with a long lease are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2093

With just 68 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.