My wife and I are refinancing our maisonette in Peak District with Lloyds. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 Lloyds. This is solely used to protect Lloyds 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 Lloyds 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.
When does exchange of contracts occur in residential conveyancing in Peak District and do I need to attend the lawyers office?
Where you are near to our conveyancing solicitors in Peak District you are invited in to sign the paperwork. However, the law practices we work with offer a national conveyancing service and provide as equally diligent and professional a job for you when communicating with you digitally. The signing of the property agreement is not the critical part. A signed contract simply enables the solicitor to address the formalities when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The procedure is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a lengthy "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Peak District)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
I have been told that property searches are the primary reason for hinderance in Peak District conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in Peak District.
Am I right to be suspicious that brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a national conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Peak District conveyancing practice?
As is the case with many professional services, often referrals from connections can be most helpful. But there are many players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies might all suggest conveyancers to retain. Sometimes the solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but sometimes there behind the scenes commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to select your preferred lawyer. However, bear in mind that some mortgage providers specify a panel list of lawyers you must use for the lender related work in your conveyancing.
We yesterday discovered that one of the directors of the conveyancing practice acting on the purchase conveyancing in Peak District is an uncle of the seller. Is this allowed?
As long as no conflict arises this is permitted. If you are requiring a mortgage then the mortgage company may have a say as many mortgage companies have specific requirements concerning this. For example for Santander as of 1/2/2026, the requirements read as follows :