My fiance and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in De Beauvoir Town with . We have a son 18 who lives at home. 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, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 3 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 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 . This is solely used to protect 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 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.

My father informed me that in buying a property in De Beauvoir Town there may be various restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to a property. Is this right?

There are anumerous of properties in De Beauvoir Town which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to execute external variations. Part of the conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.

I happen to be the single recipient of my late father’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in De Beauvoir Town. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in . I plan to dispose of the property. I do know about the CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be treated the same way as if I'd bought the house in . Do I have to wait 6 months to sell?

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be affected by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this requirement is primarily there to identify subsales or the quick reselling of properties.

I am due to exchange contracts on my house. I had a double glazing fitted in July 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, are being difficult. The De Beauvoir Town solicitor who is on the conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in De Beauvoir Town I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in De Beauvoir Town for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a mortgage that many years may be an issue. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.

Jane (my partner) and I may need to let out our De Beauvoir Town basement flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your previous De Beauvoir Town conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to seek permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I invested in buying a basement flat in De Beauvoir Town, conveyancing having been completed in 1995. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar properties in De Beauvoir Town with over 90 years remaining are worth £165,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 50

With just 50 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £36,100 and £41,800 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

I have selected a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing solicitor for our home move (first time buyers) and have noticed in the engagement letter that they are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Should I be concerned or is that the norm with ?

We can't see why they should be. Most don't lend money. They will be regulated by the SRA, who set strict obligations covering amounts deposited by them.