My husband and I swapping mortgage lender for our flat in Streetly with Virgin Money. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money. This is solely used to protect Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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.

Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Streetly ahead of instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor has said that some lenders may not give a mortgage on such a premises.

It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Streetly. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Streetly to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.

Am I right to be wary about brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Streetly conveyancing firm?

As is the case with many professional services, often recommendations from relatives can be worth their weight in gold. Nevertheless there are many players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, financial adviser and lenders might all suggest conveyancers to instruct. Sometimes the lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but sometimes there is an underlying commercial relationship behind the endorsement. You have the right to appoint your own conveyancer. Don't forget that some mortgage providers specify a panel list of solicitors you have to use for the lender related work in your conveyancing.

What makes a Streetly lease problematic?

Leasehold conveyancing in Streetly is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property Insurance obligations

You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Aldermore all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I purchased a 1 bedroom flat in Streetly, conveyancing formalities finalised in 1996. 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 Streetly with an extended lease are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2085

With just 59 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £20,900 and £24,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Do online conveyancing companies cover everything a high street Streetly solicitor does or do I still need to employ a solicitor for the final stages for my conveyancing in Streetly?

If you instruct an online conveyancer they should cover all the things your Streetly solicitor will cover.