My husband and I are refinancing our penthouse in Middlesbrough with Co-operative. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Co-operative conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up 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 Co-operative. This is solely used to protect Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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.

Should our conveyancer be raising enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Middlesbrough.

Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers carrying out conveyancing in Middlesbrough. There are those who buy a property in Middlesbrough, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.

Conveyancers are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a various checks that may be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should figure out the risks in Middlesbrough. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a standard inquiry of the vendor to discover if the property has historically flooded. If flooding has previously occurred which is not revealed by the seller, then a buyer may bring a compensation claim stemming from an misleading response. A buyer’s solicitors should also order an environmental search. This should higlight whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations should be made.

It has been five months following my purchase conveyancing in Middlesbrough completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?

The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.

I am looking to sell my house. My former lawyers closed down. I would be grateful for any recommendation of a conveyancing firm. Im based in Middlesbrough if that affects matters.

Do use our search tool to help you find a solicitor for your conveyancing in Middlesbrough. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with regulated solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move runs with a minimum of fuss.

Last August I purchased a leasehold house in Middlesbrough. 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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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).

Middlesbrough Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the property? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? Where a Middlesbrough lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the salability of the flat. Check with your lender that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out what this will be. For most Middlesbroughlease extensions you will need to own the premises for two years before you are legally able to exercise a lease extension.