My partner and I are refinancing our penthouse in Cranfield with UBS. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify 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 flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the UBS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your UBS 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 UBS. This is solely used to protect UBS 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 UBS 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.
As someone not used to conveyancing in Cranfield what is your top tip you can impart for the legal transfer of property in Cranfield
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Cranfield or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of room for confrontation between you and others involved in the house moving process. E.g., the vendor, estate agent and even potentially a bank. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Cranfield is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY party in the transaction whose interest is to act in your legal interests and to keep you safe.
Every so often a potential adversary will try and persuade you that it is in your interests to do things their way. For example, the property agent may claim to be assisting by suggesting your lawyer is slow. Or your mortgage broker may tell you to do take action that is contrary to your conveyancers recommendation. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in Cranfield. My lender is Platform
Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 7/2/2026, the requirements read as follows :
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Cranfield?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Cranfield. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for sale conveyancing in Cranfield. I happened to land on a web site which appears to be the ideal offering If it is possible to get all formalities done via email that would be ideal. Should I be wary? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
I have just appointed agents to market my basement apartment in Cranfield. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have recently received a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?
It best that you pay the maintenance contribution as you normally would because all ground rent and service charges should be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
Cranfield Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask before buying
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Please tell me if there are any major works anticipated that could add a premium to the maintenance charges? What is the name of the managing agents?