My husband and I intend to remortgage our flat in Windsor with Santander. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults 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 flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Santander conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement 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 Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander 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 Santander 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.
I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in Windsor. I I would like to check whether they are accepted on the Skipton Building Society approved list of lawyers. Can you help?
The first thing to do is phone the solicitor and enquire if they can act for the bank. Otherwise you should call Skipton Building Society who may be able to assist.
My wife and I own a terraced Victorian house in Windsor. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Accord Mortgages Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Windsor and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Windsor ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies will not give a mortgage on a flying freehold premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you contact us we can check via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Windsor. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Windsor especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Windsor.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Windsor. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Windsor who acted for me is not around. What should I do?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Windsor conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I bought a 1st floor flat in Windsor, conveyancing was carried out in 2006. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in Windsor with an extended lease are worth £195,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease finishes on 21st October 2089
With only 63 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £16,200 and £18,600 plus costs.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.
My husband and I have just found out that one of the partners of the firm acting on the purchase conveyancing in Windsor is related to the seller. Is this acceptable?
Provided there is no conflict of interest this is allowable. If you are requiring a home loan then the lender may have a say as many mortgage companies have specific instructions on this. For example for Lloyds TSB Scotland as of 29/9/2026, the requirements read as follows :