My husband and I changing mortgage lender for our flat in Southwick with HSBC. 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 lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form 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 HSBC 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 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 HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC 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 HSBC 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.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our property can not be found. The conveyancers who handled the conveyancing in Southwick 4 years ago have long since closed. Will I be able to sell the house?

In today’s world there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your solicitor should know precisely where to look for all the relevant documentation so you may purchase or dispose of your property without a hitch. Where copies are not available, your conveyancer may be able to put in place insurance or indemnities protecting you against possible claims on your property.

Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Southwick is the location of the property. What do you suggest?

Flying freeholds in Southwick are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Southwick you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Southwick may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.

I have been recommended by a couple of local property agents in Southwick to get a quote from a property lawyer on your site. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to promote your lawyers over another?

We refuse to offer any referral fee for sending work our way. We found it would be just too difficult a fee because a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.

I've found a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Southwick. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Southwick are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Southwick in which case you should be looking for a Southwick conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should advise you fully on all the issues.

Southwick Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

How many years are left on the lease? Where a Southwick lease has fewer than 80 years it will impact the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for 24 months before you are legally able to extend the lease. Most Southwick leasehold flats will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the building set on behalf of the freeholder. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this liability, usually periodically accross the year. This could differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say about £25-£75 but you need to check as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive.