Born too late
Q. My husband is “old fashioned” and has always held our home in his sole name. As we’re getting older I wondered what my position would be if anything happened to my husband. Would I still be able to keep the house?
A. If your husband transfers the house into joint names in the usual manner it would become yours automatically on his death. As things stand, you will have to trust that he leaves it to you in his will. In all likelihood you would be able to challenge the will if he didn’t, but this would only add complication and expense. Further complication could arise if he didn’t make a will at all, because the house would form part of his estate, of which you might only receive a proportion. Having the house in joint names will also give you some security in the event of marital difficulties. Persuade him to put it in joint names: it’s a comparatively simple process and will save money in the long run.

Up the garden path
Q. A footpath crosses our farm, and now a member of the public has applied to the council to establish a new path leading from it past the front of our house to meet up with the road. This would affect our privacy and devalue our house, but the person who has applied says there used to be a path there even though it’s not on the council’s “definitive map”. I know it is costly to have a path diverted. Will the person concerned have had to pay a fee to have the path opened?
A. The council has a responsibility to ensure that rights of way are not closed off, so there is no fee for asking it to do its duty. Similarly there’s no fee for diverting a footpath if it’s in the public interest; it only costs where the diversion is in the landowner’s interest. The person who has applied will have to prove that the footpath used to exist, either from maps or from statements from people who used to use it. But a footpath cannot be lost because it is no longer used: it can only be closed by an order made under statute.

Rough treatment
Q. I live on an unadopted road which is in a bad state of repair. The council refuse to repair the pot-holes, the uneven pavement or clean out the drains. We used to get a reduction in our rates because of the lack of facilities, but under the council tax system I am charged the same as others who do get their roads repaired and cleaned. Am I legally bound to pay for services I don’t receive?
A. If the road hasn’t been adopted by the council they are of course under no obligation to maintain it. However the fact that the road is in a poor state of repair will no doubt have a bearing on the value of your property, which is what the council tax banding system is based on. So in practice you will probably be paying less council tax than if the road was adopted. You could contact the local valuation office to discuss the issue. You might be able to persuade the council to adopt your road if you own it jointly with your neighbours, but you would probably have to foot the bill for bringing it up to the required standard initially.

Adding on to next door
Q. My neighbours have put in an application for a two-storey extension. What are my rights concerning the noise, the dirt and any access they may try to get to my property?
A. If the extension is coming up to the boundary, or the foundations are within three metres and go deeper than your own property your neighbour should serve a notice on you under the Party Wall etc Act before work starts. Under the Act you must, when necessary, allow workmen or an architect for example on to your property as long as you have been given written notice, usually 14 days in advance. This is rarely necessary, but if you object to any of your neighbour’s proposals you should appoint a surveyor to act as mediator. You should also consider serving an obstruction notice on your neighbour, preventing the extension gaining a right to light which could thwart any plans you may have for a similar extension in future. Similarly if the extension looks as though it will put you in the shade you should see a solicitor.

Backing up
Q. I’m getting raw sewage in my garden. My solicitor advised me before I bought the property that the drain running through my garden is shared with some adjoining properties. He said there was a “grouped drainage agreement”. What can I do?
A. There is likely to be a copy of the agreement your solicitor told you about with your title deeds. The fact that there is one of these agreements is good news, in that it would seem to suggest that your property was built before 1st October 1937. For properties built before this date which share drainage facilities (sometimes called a “combined drain”) responsibility for maintaining the combined drain, even if it is on private land, will rest with the water utility company to whom you pay your water rates. You should therefore get on to the water company and ask them, in view of the health hazard caused by the sewage, to attend at your property for the purpose of sorting out the problem as a priority job. If your house was built before 1937 you can expect the utility company to carry out the work at their expense.

In search of uncle’s estate
Q. My uncle died 18 months ago, leaving my mother and one surviving brother. I’ve tried to find out if he left a will, but the Probate Registry says it never went to probate. Is there any way I can find out for my mother whether there was a will and whether my uncle left any property?
A. Did your uncle own a house, and did he appear to have anything to leave? If he did then I suggest you contact your surviving uncle, since this is the person likely to have wound up his affairs. If the deceased uncle left only small sums (under £5,000) the banks will probably have released any monies without requiring evidence of probate. If he didn’t leave a will your mother will be entitled to a share of anything he left. I’m assuming someone has been to his house and taken over his affairs. If necessary, and in the absence of a will and executors, you could apply to the Probate Registry to take on this role.

Q. My husband and I took out an endowment mortgage in joint names ten years ago. We have since parted and the house is in my name only. My ex-husband has remarried. Is his life still insured on this policy, which I am still paying for?
A. The policy should have been signed over into your name when you divorced. Check this with the solicitor who handled your divorce and financial settlement. But it’s normal to keep both lives insured on the policy. Assuming the benefit of the policy was transferred into your sole name, the effect of your ex dying before you will be to trigger the payment of the death benefit in your favour. If you were to die on the other hand the benefits would not go to your ex, but would fall into your estate. If the policy were to mature before either of you die then you would solely be entitled to the proceeds.

Missing a HIP
Q. I am currently a sitting tenant and have applied to buy my home under the Right-to-Buy legislation. The house has been inspected by the landlord’s valuers, and I have received a valuation report. But they say I won’t get a Home Information Pack because I am exempt. I think this is grossly unfair. Can I challenge the legislation?
A. Landlords will be required to provide the energy performance certificate component of the HIP as from 1st October this year, although currently there will be no requirement to provide EPCs to existing tenants. The HIP programme has been rolled out piecemeal, as is often the case with new legislation. In the view of many people, you are not missing out on much. You should be wary of information provided by the vendor, especially a valuation report. Get your own done.

Unwanted intrusion
Q. Because of the slope of our garden our neighbour’s garage roof projects on to our property at head height. We complained about this while they were still building in, but they just carried on regardless. Is there anything we can do that won’t incur expensive legal fees?
A. You should resolve this now even if there is cost involved since, apart from presenting an obvious danger to visitors to your property, if could devalue your house and make it difficult to sell in future. You should ask your solicitor to write to your neighbour asking him to modify the garage so that it doesn’t intrude on to your land. Although it’s sensible to avoid disputes with your neighbour, it’s not as though he wasn’t given the opportunity to resolve the problem at the time. If your neighbour doesn’t respond to the letter you can go to court to ask for an order that the projection to be removed. Your neighbour may well be ordered to pay your legal costs if court action becomes necessary.

Estate management
Q. Before he died a relative said I was his next of kin and asked me to dispose of his assets. What powers do I have to do this, and what responsibility do I have to carry out his wishes?
A. If you are in fact your relative’s next of kin and he hasn’t made a will then you are likely to receive most of what he left. If he didn’t make a will and name an executor to carry out his wishes (and he left property, goods or cash amounting to more than a few thousand pounds) then someone will have to apply to the probate registry for “letters of administration” which will give them authority to dispose of your relative’s assets. Who gets to do this will depend on how closely they were related to the deceased, but you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Another relative will probably take the job on if you turn it down. Most people ask a solicitor for help.

Ground rent hike
Q. We have lived in our house for the last five years, after my wife bought it from her brother. We paid ground rent of £1.65 a year until 12 months ago, when we received a demand from a new property management company for £4.00. Are we obliged to pay this increase of approximately 250%?
A. Whether or not they can increase your ground rent in this way will depend on what’s written in your lease agreement. I have to say I think it’s unlikely. You should have a copy of your lease, but if not it’s probably worth obtaining one from the Land Registry so that you are aware of any restrictions imposed on your use of the property. It’s important that you don’t break any of these rules.

House detective
Q. Before he died, a friend assured me he had not been paid for a property he had “sold”. The building is now up for sale again, and I wondered if it was possible to block the sale since although my friend is no longer alive he has two daughters who could do with the money.
A. Property transfers have to be carried out in writing, so your friend must have signed a document transferring ownership of the building. It’s hard to imagine that he would have done this unless he had received the agreed sum beforehand. Alternatively he could have placed a “charge” on the property which would only have been removed once he received payment. If you visit the local Land Registry or go online you can check the file relating to this property, assuming the transfer was registered.

No excuse to stay
Q. My daughter owns a house and wishes to rent it out for a period of between one and two years. She has been told that she has the same legal protection whether she rents it unfurnished or fully furnished. I have my doubts: has the law on this changed?
A. Yes. Residential tenancies now come under the Housing Act 1996. Your daughter will need to draw up an assured shorthold tenancy agreement for six months or more: it makes no difference whether the property is rented out furnished or unfurnished. When she wants her house back she just has to give her tenants two months’ written notice of termination of the tenancy. If for any reason the tenants refuse to leave at the end of the two months (which must coincide with a rent payment date) there is a special “short procedure” for repossession actions in the County Court.

Add-on costs
Q. We have planning consent to build an extension. As requested I wrote to the freeholders to let them know. They gave their consent, but they are asking for a £325 administration fee. Can they charge us that much money?
A. It is not unusual for long leases (i.e. 999 years) to contain clauses which prohibit structural alterations without the Freeholder’s consent. If there is a clause like this in your Lease you will have to pay the “reasonable” costs and expenses of the Freeholder, and if pressed the freeholder would probably be able to justify the sum in terms of legal costs etc. It could have cost you a lot more if you had gone ahead and built the extension without the Freeholder’s permission!

What’s required
Q. I am an 80-year-old widower living alone. I have about £10,000 in the bank and I own my own property. I have made a will in favour of my son. When is probate necessary, what does it mean and what does it cost?
A. Probate is the document which confirms that a will is valid and states who the executors are. It authorises the executors to gain access to bank accounts, shares and investments and to deal with the property of the deceased. The purpose of the probate laws are, among other things, to ensure that the provisions of the will are carried out and, of course, to ensure that inheritance tax is paid where applicable. Where small sums (usually less than £5,000) are involved, financial institutions may pay the money over to an executor without requiring to seek authorisation, or a "Grant of Probate". In this case probate will be necessary to enable the property to be dealt with. A solicitor will be able to obtain probate for your son and to handle the sale of your property or, if your son wants to keep the property, to transfer it over into his name.

House price deflated
Q. We were selling our house and agreed a price in March. The couple who were buying have been stalling, saying they were unable to sell their own property. Now they have announced that they want to cut the price by £15,000. Can they do that?
A. I’m afraid they can unless both you and they signed and exchanged contracts. Verbal agreements don’t count for anything when it comes to buying and selling land and property. Of course the house may have decreased in value over the last five months in the current climate so some reduction in the price may be justified. But you don’t have to accept their offer. If you think the buyers weren’t very interested in the property and you may be able to get more you should put it back on the market.

Closing the gate
Q. There is a public footpath across the field at the back of my house, and I have a gate at the bottom of my garden leading out on to the field. The land has recently been sold to a developer, who is applying for outline planning permission to build some houses. This could close off my access to the back of my property; will I still have a right of access? The gate has been in existence for about 15 years.
A. Fifteen years isn’t long enough to acquire a right to cross someone else’s property. 20 years is usually regarded as a minimum, and only where no permission has been sought or denied. If you put the gate in it doesn’t sound as though you have a legal right to use it, although there’s no harm in making representations to the council for continued access. The position is different as regards the footpath, of course, but I take it the footpath doesn’t go across the back of your property. The developer will have to ask the local authority to apply for an order to close or divert the path.

No record of rentcharge
Q. When we bought this house 50 years ago it was subject to an annual Chief Rent of £10. Some time ago we tried to pay off this charge, and the agent confirmed that an application was sent to the Department of the Environment but we heard nothing further. Now the new agents say they have no record of our property and think the rentcharge may have been paid off at some time. If we pursue this, are we likely to get a large bill for outstanding payments, or can we get the appropriate certificate?
A. If you haven’t paid to redeem your rentcharge (also known as Chief Rent) you’re unlikely to get a redemption certificate. The cost of redemption will probably amount to a hundred pounds or so. I suggest you let the Rentcharges Unit at the Government Office for the North West, City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1 4BE try to sort this out for you. If you complete an application form and send in a copy of the deed that created the rentcharge, they will contact the rentcharge owner and hopefully resolve the issue. They will certainly be able to advise on how to proceed further. It’s possible you will be asked for the last six years’ payments.

Family plot
Q. My parents owned a house which was demolished in the 50’s. As far as we know they retained ownership of the land, since about 20 years ago they got a letter from the council offering to purchase the plot, which they declined. My parents have since both died, and the only documentation we have is the original mortgage documents. We know where the land is, and wonder how to go about obtaining the deeds.
A. You (or the executors of your parents’ estates) will have to apply to the Land Registry to register the title. There is a procedure for doing this which involves providing as much information about the ownership of the property, and the loss of the original deeds, as you can muster. The original mortgage documents are a good start. I suggest you ask a solicitor to help you with this, since you will have to make a statutory declaration and identify the plot on Ordnance Survey map. It’s possible you will be granted “possessory” title to the land (where the evidence supplied does not establish the history of the title beyond doubt) but you would still be able to sell the plot in these circumstances. If someone else has been using the land for a long period of time though it’s possible they will now be able to claim ownership.

Not a brick laid
Q. My daughter put a deposit down on a new-build home at the beginning of the year, and was told it would be ready in between six to nine months. So far not even the foundations have gone in and the builders are saying it will be “some time next year”. My daughter has exchanged contracts, but her mortgage offer runs out in October. Can she pull out at this stage?
A. Probably. Hopefully your daughter engaged a solicitor to check the builder’s contract and it contains a clause stipulating a timescale within which the property must be ready. If there is no such clause it may be more difficult, but the law says that contracts must be fulfilled within a “reasonable” time. The suggestion that the house would be ready within nine months, even if it was made verbally, will nonetheless form part of the contract and your daughter could potentially sue the builders for the return of her deposit after this period. I suggest she discusses this with the builders now.

Spring cleaning
Q. In December last year we moved into a property whose owner had used a home exchange/chain break company to sell her property. We discovered that the water had been turned off and the central heating system had been drained, and there were notices advising that the water supply should only be reinstated by a qualified plumber. Since it was evening we turned on the supply and had leaking radiators, a leaking water tank and water came through the kitchen ceiling. It cost us several thousand pounds for a new boiler and new radiator. Can we claim compensation from the seller?
A. You should go back to the solicitor who acted for you in buying the house to find out what assurances you were given about the condition of the water supply and the heating system. These questions are normally raised in the Property Information Form. It’s possible however that you in fact bought the house from the home exchange company, which may have declined to complete the form, or left it incomplete. In that case your solicitor should have warned you to ask your surveyor to check these points in detail. So you may be able to claim compensation from either the vendor, your solicitor or your surveyor, if negligence was involved. However you are unlikely to be compensated for the damage caused by turning on the water supply against advice.

Partial remains
Q. My parents bought their house in 1959 for cash and kept the deeds themselves. Parts of them have now been lost, and the remaining deeds only describe the property and give details of previous sales, plus the names of the solicitors who transferred the property into my father’s name. There is no address or details of the transfer to my parents. How will we proceed when my mother leaves the property in her will?
A. Your parents bought their house two years before compulsory registration was introduced in Great Manchester in 1961: otherwise the property’s details would have been on file at the Land Registry. If the solicitors can be traced it’s possible they still have possession of the missing transfer document. Failing that it will be a good idea for your mother whilst she is alive to make a statutory declaration confirming the circumstances of the loss of the deeds and for there to be a voluntary application at this stage to the Land Registry. If the evidence of the transfer to your mother is not strong enough to enable the Land Registry to grant absolute title your mother may end up with “possessory” title but after a certain number of years this can be upgraded. If you leave the Land Registry application until after your mother’s death it may hold things up if you plan to sell the property at that stage.

Business records
Q. Is there an address I can write to for information on shops, garages, warehouses, factories etc from 1900 to the present day, to find out when they started in business and ceased trading?
A. There are a number of historical societies in and around Manchester which may be able to help you, for example the Manchester Region Industrial Archaeology Society. You can contact them by writing to the secretary c/o 108 Woburn Drive, Hale WA15 8NF or visit mrias.co.uk online. The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (0161 245 4800) may also be able to help. Unfortunately the Land Registry records for this area will only go back to the date of compulsory registration less than 50 years ago.

Clearing a blockage
Q. There’s a sewage chamber in our garage which takes three of our neighbours’ sewage through pipes under our garden. When it gets flooded there’s a horrific smell and they have to come out to empty it. We can’t build over it, and we seem to be stuck with the problem.
A. Whoever built the garage over a sewage chamber almost certainly did so in contravention of building regulations. This could present a problem if you ever wanted to sell the property. The first thing to do is to find out why it’s flooding. There will probably be a clause in your title deeds allowing you to share the cost of any work connected with the drains (including clearing blockages) with your neighbours “upstream”. If a drain inspection reveals that remedial work is required, such as digging up the pipes, I suggest you move the chamber at the same time. Warn your neighbours that you are expecting them to chip in, even though technically they won’t be responsible for moving the chamber itself.

Business as usual
Q. My wife and I have a joint bank account. We have made wills leaving everything to each other. What will happen when one of us dies? Will the account still operate, paying standing orders etc before probate is granted?
A. Yes. The money in the joint account automatically becomes the property of the survivor. The account can be transferred into the survivor’s sole name in due course, but will continue to function without a break. An account in the sole name of the deceased would be frozen and standing orders and direct debits would cease.

Car park attendant
Q. I have bought a semi-detached house, at the back of which there is a parking space for the neighbouring property. I am the freeholder. Can I charge my neighbour for parking his car on my land?
A. Possibly, but if you have just bought the property it’s likely that whoever carried out the conveyancing work for you would have mentioned it. The arrangement as regards the parking space may be referred to on the charges register containing details of your property held at the Land Registry. If you engaged a solicitor to buy the house, he or she will have studied these documents and should be able to answer any questions you may have. It could be that the people next door have simply acquired the right to park on your land through putting their car there over many years. On the other hand they may have no right whatsoever to do so! But you should get it sorted out.

Certified owner
Q. Some time ago I read that a Land Certificate was more valuable than the deeds to a property. How can this be? Where would you obtain a Land Certificate, and is there a charge for this?
A. You used to receive a Land Certificate once your property was registered at the Land Registry (although if you had a mortgage it would have been retained and the lender would have been given a charge certificate). However the Land Registry no longer issues Land Certificates. On registration, all the details contained in your title deeds are placed on central files, so the deeds in effect become redundant although they may be useful to refer to from time to time. If your property isn’t registered now it will be next time it changes hands; there’s no need to do anything at this stage – apart from look after your title deeds. It is possible, and in some cases advisable, to register your property voluntarily.

Now known as
Q. I have recently married and want to know how I go about changing my surname on the title deeds of three properties I own. Two are leasehold and the other is freehold. All were bought within the last five years. How much will it cost, and how long will it take?
A. It costs nothing to change a property description, or the name, address or description of any person on the register at the Land Registry. Assuming you live in the Greater Manchester area, write to Land Registry Lytham Office, Birkenhead House, East Beach, Lytham St Annes FY8 5AB enclosing evidence of the change, such as an official copy of your marriage certificate. It will assist greatly if you can provide the title number of each of the properties. If you don’t have these to hand you can obtain them from Land Registry Online for a small fee. It’s not strictly necessary to alter your name on the register, but if you choose to do so it should take a matter of weeks.

Tight squeeze
Q. We live in a dead end road over which we have a right of way. There are only six houses, but one of the owners claims to have a right to park his car in the road, which gives us just 18 inches to squeeze past on foot. As far as I’m aware none of the other properties have parking rights; how did our neighbour get his?
A. If it’s a private road and all the houses were built at the same time it’s likely that the deeds to all the properties will be more or less identical. If you have only pedestrian access over the road it’s unlikely that your neighbour will have anything more, although it’s just possible that he will have acquired the right to park his car outside his house by doing so over many years. Take your title deeds to a solicitor; you may be able to force your neighbour to move the vehicle.

Deeds in a box
Q. My husband bought our house from Manchester council (although it wasn’t a council house) in 1986. He kept the deeds and other papers in a box at the solicitors, but my husband has now died and the solicitors have disappeared, having been taken over by a larger firm. I am now 75 with four children and would like to know what to do?
A. Fortunately you gave me your address, including postcode. I typed these details into the “Find a Property” section of the Land Registry website and hey presto! it confirmed that your title deed information is in fact held on file at the Land Registry. This is because your property was registered when you bought it, and it means that you don’t actually need the paper deeds. You (or your executors after your death) will be able to sell the house without them. If you want the original deeds for some reason it’s possible that the larger firm that took over your solicitors will still have them. They’re handy to refer to, but not essential where a property is registered.

Clinging on to family home
Q. After my mother died I carried on living at home with my father to help him around the house etc. Unfortunately my father died last month and didn’t leave a will. I have brothers and sisters and obviously everything has to be split evenly between us, but I wondered whether they have a legal right to force me to move out, even though I would be a part owner of the property? They have their own places to live but I don’t have anywhere else to go.
A. You could offer to pay your brothers and sisters rent for their shares in the property, or even buy them out. Failing that you will probably have to move. If you don’t move out voluntarily your siblings would have to go to court to get you out. A court would look at various factors, but in a case like this where property is in joint ownership it will almost always make an order for it to be sold unless there is an “estoppel”. This is a legal principle that helps people who have acted to their detriment in reliance on a promise. You should see a solicitor to see whether this kind of argument can be deployed in your case.

Chance to reclaim my land
Q. The previous owners of the house next door built part of their garage in my garden – presumably with the consent of the elderly couple who used to own my house. The current owners of the house next door have knocked the garage down and plan to replace it on the same site. Can I now reclaim this land by reinstating the original fence?
A. If the garage was there for 12 years or more prior to 2003 (when the law changed) your next door neighbours will be able to claim that the land their garage stands on was acquired by themselves and their predecessors by adverse possession. Whether or not their title plan includes the land it would be expensive and almost certainly fruitless to try to recover it at this stage if the garage has been there for a long period of time. You should have mentioned this discrepancy to your solicitor when you bought the house.

Thanks to our son
Q. Our son has lent us quite a lot of money to buy our house. How would we go about having his name put on the title deeds, since we want to make sure he will benefit from the property in the long run?
A. Putting the house on the title could give rise to tax problems and it would be better for your son to take a charge over the property to secure the amount you owe him. This would help if you ever had to go into a care home since the local authority would only be able to take the value of your property net of the amount owed to your son into account.

Sister’s dithering
Q. I own a flat jointly with my sister. The tenant has given a month’s notice and moved out and I would like to sell the property since we are moving abroad shortly. But my sister cannot decide what to do, and has now gone off on six weeks’ holiday. I am worried that the flat will become damp and its value will start to drop. Can I sell without her permission?
A. If the property is in joint names then both signatures will be required to sell it. You could go to court for permission to sell without your sister’s consent, but this is likely to be a lengthy and expensive procedure and will not result in the quick sale you’re looking for. It would of course cause extreme bad feeling between you and your sister. Your best bet is probably to compile a list of work required on the property which your sister will have to chip in for and persuade her of the merits of selling up.

Breaking the rules
Q. I have a holiday cottage. My neighbours are putting up a conservatory and a summerhouse and are planning to let the property out this season. This is despite restrictive covenants which state that no new buildings must be constructed without my permission and that the property must not be used for commercial purposes. They say there’s nothing I can do about this, but are they correct, and what would it cost?
A. If there are restrictive covenants in your favour your neighbours may have to apply to the Lands Tribunal to have them removed, and they would have to compensate you even if they were successful. The law on such covenants is complicated so you should see a solicitor urgently, since if you need to obtain an injunction it would be preferable to apply for this before the work has started. Your neighbours may have to pay towards your costs of any litigation if they have flouted covenants which you brought to their attention.

House with waterfall
Q. Has the local council any obligation to maintain what it terms a “private lane”? The lane serves three cottages, and for much of the time it better resembles a stream since water pours down it from old workings above the houses. Years ago the council built a pipeline to take some of the water away, although it insisted it was not obliged to do so. Can the council be made to take the lane over, or can I apply for a reduction in my council tax?
A. If you own the road jointly with the other cottages on the lane (your title deeds should tell you) you may be able to force the owner of the land above you to do something to stop the water running down your lane. The fact that the council has been involved before suggests that they may be the landowners! Show your title deeds to a solicitor. The council would only consider adopting the lane if you bore the cost of bringing it up to standard in the first place. The council tax is based on the value of your house; unless you can argue that the “stream” devalues the cottages to the extent that they should be in a lower tax band you won’t be successful in applying for a reduction.

Surprisingly well off
Q. When I work out what I own I estimate it will come to more than the inheritance tax threshold of £312,000. Will my beneficiaries have to pay inheritance tax on the entire amount, or just the amount which is over the £312,000 limit?
A. Just the amount that is over the £312,000 threshold. With the increase in property prices over the last 15 years many people are likely to find themselves, perhaps unexpectedly, in your situation. However there may be things you can do to avoid paying inheritance tax at all, and since anything above the threshold will be taxed at 40% it’s well worth investigating. I suggest you make an appointment to see a solicitor specialising in tax and trusts.

Expiring lease
Q. My property is leasehold with a term of 100 years. This either expires shortly or has already done so. I have no record of who owns the lease, and have not been asked to pay ground rent for many years. I am not sure what the position is in this situation.
A. Unless you or the freeholder takes specific steps to end the tenancy it will simply continue on exactly the same terms. Thanks to a change in the law the property no longer automatically reverts to the freeholder – once of a day you would have lost your house. However if you receive a notice from the freeholder you must see a solicitor straightaway. And in fact you should sort this out sooner rather than later since it will present a problem if you wish to sell, and certainly if you were to die. I suggest you take steps to buy the freehold. If the freeholder can’t be found you can pay the money into court.

Haunting auntie
Q. My husband’s aunt died ten years ago leaving him her share of her house and all the contents. Another aunt owns the other half of the house and lives in it. She has now taken in a lodger: is my husband entitled to a share of the rent, and should the aunt be paying my husband anything to live there? So far he has received no benefit from his legacy.
A. It depends on the terms of the will. In the normal way of things, the deceased aunt will have left her half of the house in trust to allow her sister to live there for the rest of her life. If this is the case the remaining aunt will probably be responsible for insuring and maintaining the property, and would in all likelihood have to give your husband half the rent if she takes in a lodger. If there’s no such provision for the remaining aunt she may have a statutory right of occupation, depending on the purpose of the trust which arose at the point where the house went into the sisters’ joint names. But your husband would be entitled to rent for his half of the house until the property is sold, as well as to half the rent from the lodger.

Charges for changes
Q. I own a property that I rent out, and have made many improvements to over the years. I pay a ground rent of £2.75 a year to a firm of landlords, who have now sent me a questionnaire asking what changes I have made and whether the property is let. They say I should have asked for permission to make changes, and that they can charge me £500 for each one. I imagine there are hundreds of people in my situation.
A. You need to get hold of a copy of your lease and see a solicitor specialising in this area. I suggest you don’t return the questionnaire until you have taken advice, since admission that a breach has taken place can invite legal proceedings for forfeiture of the lease and for repossession. Assuming you don’t plan to put the house back into its original state and remove your tenants you will have to pay your landlord something. But (thanks to the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002) the charges have to be “reasonable” and can be challenged.

Caught in a sand-storm
Q. Builders have been renovating a house next door to a friend for three years. They caused so much dust that it damaged my friend’s computer and her car needed a re-spray. They also wrecked the damp course where the houses join. No precautions were ever taken to stop the dust flying, and the builders were just abusive when she complained: is she entitled to any compensation? The house is now up for sale.
A. If your friend has good evidence, for example photographs of the dust storms, she could take the owner of the property – presumably a firm of developers – to court for compensation. She will need a surveyor’s report on the condition of the damp course. She should act quickly before the house is sold, since she could obtain an order that she be repaid from the sale proceeds. Ideally she would have taken action when the work started. She might have been able to limit the nuisance, if necessary through an injunction.

Spreading out and up
Q. Several years ago a neighbour had a two-storey extension constructed without planning permission. Can this extension now be further extended by replacing the flat roof with a sloping one?
A. The regulations are too complicated to give a totally definitive answer, but generally it is not necessary to apply for planning permission if the size of an extension increases the total volume of the original house by less than 70m³, or 15 per cent. If the proposed sloping roof increases the volume of the extension so as to take it above that figure, then planning permission will now be required. The apex of the new roof must not be higher than the original house, and there are other rules about the positioning of the extension in relation to the road. If you disagree with the proposals contact the planning department.

Rough ride
Q. I live in a cul-de-sac serving 17 houses. The road hasn’t been adopted by the council and is full of pot-holes. If someone was injured or a car was damaged, who would be responsible: the individual householder in front of whose property the accident occurred, or all 17 householders collectively?
A. Generally in this kind of situation it is the person who owns the section of road upon which the accident occurs who will be liable. I would expect each house owner to own the patch of road in front of his or her property, but you should check your title deeds to see exactly which sections are owned by each of the seventeen houses. If you notify the local authority of the potential danger it’s possible the council will adopt the road and maintain it in future. But it may well ask the householders in the cul-de-sac (assuming they own the road) to meet the initial cost of bringing it up to standard.

Second time of asking
Q. I had the apex at the front of my house re-done less than three years ago at a cost of more than £5,000. The work involved replacing brickwork and beams as well as barge boards and the like. A year ago they came back when the paintwork on some of the decorative timber started peeling. Now more paintwork is peeling and there’s a damp patch above my bedroom window. Can I force them to come back again?
A. If the builders have been back once they will probably be prepared to do so again for the sake of their reputation. You are likely to get a better response by asking them nicely rather than threatening legal action. However if all else fails you could sue the firm in the small claims court, since paintwork would be expected to last longer than three years and the rebuilt area should be damp free (you could argue) for at least ten years.

What’s in store?
Q. My nephew has just been made an executor of my aunt’s will. I have tried to explain what is involved, but am unsure myself.
A. It would be open to your nephew to instruct a firm of solicitors to carry out the administration of the estate on his behalf. It’s possible your aunt has also named a solicitor as co-executor. If your aunt’s affairs are complicated your nephew should certainly ask a solicitor for help. A full check list is too lengthy to be detailed here, but his duties will involve obtaining all the details of the aunt’s financial affairs and then completing the forms in order to apply for probate if necessary. This will give him authority to dispose of her assets according to her will.

Debt resurfaces
Q. We have recently paid off our mortgage, and when we received the deeds I was told there was a caution registered against the property in 2002 after the Halifax obtained judgement against my husband. The amount is for £4,500. What would be the position if we sold the property? Can we pay off the debt now?
A. Yes, and the sooner the better since the debt will be accruing interest. If you were to sell the property the debt would be paid off from the proceeds of the sale. Your husband should be aware of the court action which led to the caution being registered against your property. Contact the Halifax for clarification and for details of how to settle the debt.

New developments
Q. I owned a bungalow with two acres of land. In 1996 I sold the land and made an agreement that if it was developed for housing I would receive 50 per cent of the net profit. Two years later I sold the bungalow. Last year the builder paid me to end our agreement, but the new owners of the bungalow say there’s a covenant in their title deeds which says the builder must pay them to end the agreement, not me.
A. Without seeing the documents it’s difficult to say who should receive the builder’s money. It would be normal for an obligation to pay monies like this one to be personal to the original owner, rather than to successors in title. However, if the benefit of the agreement with the builder has, as part of the sale of the bungalow, been transferred to the current owners it may well be that the builders (provided they were notified of the transfer) are liable to pay the money to the new owners. You should leave it to the new owners to argue it out with the builder and hang on to the money in the meantime.

File in the shredder
Q. I bought my flat in 2000 and put it on the market in 2004 after being made redundant. Three buyers pulled out on the advice of their solicitors because there were no mutual repairing obligations in the lease. I’ve been in touch with the Legal Complaints Service and the ombudsman but they say there is no evidence to support my claim since the conveyancing solicitor has destroyed my file “in line with policy”. Four years on I am no nearer resolving this.
A. You have a potential claim for compensation under the Limitation Act for six years from the date the problem came to light. The fact that the “evidence” has been shredded will not necessarily hinder your case if you can show that the solicitors acted for you in the purchase of the flat where the lease is sub standard. See a different solicitor.

Planning ahead
Q. My wife and I are currently in the process of drawing up our wills. We don’t have much money but we do own our own house, which we are turning over to our two children on the understanding that we can live here to the end of our days. I’m told that if either or both of us have to go into a nursing home the children would be held responsible for the charges involved. Is this correct, and if so can it be avoided?
A. It would be you and your wife who would be responsible for the fees but only if the local authority were able to prove that you transferred your house into your children’s names in order to avoid the fees. If you’re fit and healthy and don’t need residential care in the near future it could be that your motives will not be scrutinised too deeply. However giving your house away, even to your children, isn’t a course to be embarked on lightly: they could die, get divorced or be made bankrupt, in which case you could lose your house to your in-laws or a trustee in bankruptcy. There is also the problem that any increase in the value of the house arising after the house is transferred to your children will be subject to capital gains tax. Most of these problems can be avoided by gifting your home into a trust of which you and you wife are the life tenants, although if the value of your home exceeds £624,000, inheritance tax on such excess will be payable at 20%.

Storing up problems
Q. When my neighbour moved in she put up a seven-foot fence around her garden, but in doing so she cut off her access to her shed. These days it’s only used for storing junk and she keeps her dustbin there, but because of the fence the only way she can get to it is to cross our land. A friend told us we shouldn’t allow her to do this.
A. Your friend was right to put you on your guard. If your neighbour was to carry on crossing your land on a fairly regular basis for 20 years or more she – and anyone who bought her house in the future – could acquire the right to do so permanently. This would only apply if she was using the route without your permission however, so if you don’t mind your neighbour crossing your land you should perhaps give her written permission to do so and keep a copy. Similarly she’s running something of a risk of losing her shed at some stage if she’s incorporated it into your property.

Narrowing the path
Q. The residents of six houses in our street have pedestrian rights over a lane about 6ft wide behind our house. I wish to put up a garden shed which will have to jut out more than a foot into the lane. Will I be allowed to do this?
A. No. It is not possible to build on land over which neighbours have rights of way. It is immaterial that your shed will not extend over the entire access area. Ask a solicitor to check your title deeds if you’re in any doubt about the legal position.

Waiting in
Q. The fitter who installed our double-glazing had to come back to rectify some minor problems. He made several appointments but failed to keep them, with the result that my wife lost four days’ pay waiting in for him. The firm has offered us £100 compensation but it cost my wife double that?
A. Failure to keep an appointment could be regarded as a breach of contract, and technically you may be able to sue the company for any losses you incurred as a result. However the firm could argue that it wasn’t aware that your wife would suffer loss of earnings, or that she didn’t need to wait in the whole day. A court might think their offer of £100 was reasonable in the circumstances, so it would probably be advisable to accept it. And perhaps go elsewhere if you need further double-glazing.

Power transfer
Q. We are buying a property in Spain, and the solicitor has asked for a power of attorney so that he can sign documents on our behalf and save us a lot of travelling. Does this give him any legal rights that we should know about concerning our property?
A. A power of attorney is a deed – a signed and witnessed document –authorising a named person (in this case the solicitor) to act on your behalf. The legal rights you give him should be set out in the document. As an added safeguard you would ideally instruct a local firm with contacts in Spain to carry out this transaction since there are likely to be capital gains and inheritance tax implications which you should take on board before going ahead.

Will taxman be our guest?
Q. My partner and I own a small guest house in joint names. We both have two children from our first marriages. We made wills some time ago leaving everything to our trustees with the idea that everything will get shared between the four children when we have both gone. What is our position as regards inheritance tax?
A. I presume from your reference to “trustees” that you have set up discretionary will trusts, which is the best thing to have done from an inheritance tax point of view. Married couples can now transfer their inheritance tax allowances (currently £312,000 per person) to each other; but unmarried couples still need to use trusts to make use of both allowances, thereby maximising the inheritance of the next generation. If your combined estates are likely to exceed £624,000 it will be important to use Business Property Relief by ensuring that, on the first death, the first to die’s share of the guest house business passes into discretionary trust. This will ensure that if the survivor sells the business or stops operating it after the first death, the first to die’s share of the value of the business sale proceeds or the former business assets will be sheltered from inheritance tax on the second death.

Net result
Q. The tenants in the house next door have put a window in the side of their bungalow which forms the boundary with our property, with the result that they can see right into our kitchen and bathroom. The previous tenant signed an agreement preventing him from doing this, but we have contacted the landlord and he doesn’t want to know.
A. There’s probably a clause in your neighbours’ lease requiring them to obtain the landlord’s consent before carrying out any building work. But you can’t make the landlord enforce the terms of the lease. Unless the installation of the window contravenes planning laws or building regulations or a covenant in the title deeds to the house, you may have to invest in some net curtains. You have no automatic right to privacy.

Abandoned caravan
Q. A friend stores caravans in a field for an annual fee. One van has been there since he bought the field three years ago, and no-one knows who the owner is. I would like to buy it, but does my friend have the right to sell it to claim his fees?
A. The fact that your friend uses the sale proceeds to clear the arrears owed in respect of site fees (unless the sale is effected under a court order) would not necessarily prevent the van owner returning and reclaiming his caravan from you after you’d “bought” it. If the price you are paying for the van is fairly low you can probably go ahead without worrying too much about the owner of the van reappearing although. You could perhaps cover yourself by asking your solicitors to draw up a deed whereby your friend agrees to reimburse any loss you suffer as a result of having to hand the caravan back to the true owner.

Landed with debt
Q. My wife and I bought some land for £24,000 in 1994. At the time our son lent us £3,200 towards the purchase and a charge was registered at the Land Registry so he would get his money back. This is still in place and is preventing us selling the land, even though we repaid the loan years ago. We no longer see or hear from our son, so what can be done in the circumstances?
A. You need to provide evidence to the Land Registry that you have discharged the debt secured against the land. If you cannot obtain a duly signed discharge document from your son you will have to apply to the Land Registry for cancellation of the charge on the basis of a statutory declaration that no money is owing under the charge. The Land Registry will notify your son of the proposed cancellation and give him the opportunity to argue why the charge should remain. As long as you are able to produce evidence of repayment – for example a bank statement – the Registry will cancel the charge and the sale can go through.

Estate management
Q. My mother and my aunt are about to obtain letters of administration for the estate of my cousin, who died recently. However my uncle had an enduring power of attorney to deal with her affairs. Will my mother succeed if she applies for an injunction to prevent him taking any part in the administration?
A. Since your mother and aunt are applying for letters of administration (as opposed to a grant of probate) I take it the niece didn’t leave a will. In that case the closest family member to the deceased will be given authority to administer the estate. Your uncle no longer has authority to deal with his niece’s affairs, since power of attorney ceases on death. Where two people have an equal claim it’s usually just a question of who gets in first. If the three can’t get on it might be better for them to appoint a solicitor to deal with the estate.

Father and son
Q. My brother persuaded my father to sign his house over to him nearly 20 years ago in case my father had to go into a care home and the local authority came after the property to pay for the fees. Now my brother is planning to retire early and wants the house. Is my brother legally entitled to evict my father, who is now 90 and disabled? My father has just spent £20,000 on the house on the assumption that he could stay there until he dies or goes into care.
A. You should find out whether your father received proper independent advice from a solicitor at the time that the gift was made. If not, there may be scope for invalidating the gift so that your father gets his house back. It would then be open to your father to give the house to you and other family members under a new will, cutting out your ungrateful brother! If the gift of the house to your brother was valid, your father will be able to claim a stake in the property equivalent to the amount by which his £20,000 investment has increased its value. He could also to argue that, as someone with a beneficial interest in the house, he has a right to remain in occupation. However in this situation your brother would also have a right to live in the house unless excluded by the court.

Should I be registered?
Q. When I bought my house in the 1950’s I used a local firm of solicitors who retained my title deeds for safekeeping. About two years ago I discovered that the property was not registered at the Land Registry. The solicitors said this could be rectified when the house next changed ownership. Surely they were responsible for registering the property when I purchased it?
A. Land registration in England and Wales has been introduced piecemeal, and compulsory registration didn’t arrive in Manchester until 1961. The history of land registration is actually quite interesting. It wasn’t until as recently as December 1990 that the last areas were brought into the registered system and new legislation in 1998 meant that all sales and other changes of ownership of land in England and Wales have had to be registered. You can apply to register your property voluntarily, although this will of course incur a fee.

In her name only
Q. My son and his partner have split up after living together for 14 years. They bought a house in her name five years ago: at the time they intended to buy a second house in his name and rent it out, but that fell through. Now the house is up for sale and has trebled in value. If I’m not mistaken she will get the cheque, since the house is in her name, even though they have shared all the bills. How can he make sure he gets a share?
A. Your son should see a solicitor and apply for appropriate restrictions to be entered against the property at the Land Registry. This will in effect prevent your son’s ex-partner from selling the property. Your son can threaten legal proceedings unless the ex-partner agrees to pay him his share of the sale proceeds. If they can’t agree the only option will be to go to court. Your son will have to be able to show that the couple agreed to share the property and that he has contributed financially towards the mortgage and improvements. The intention to buy a second property will be important in explaining why their current home isn’t in joint names.

Renting a building site
Q. My mother is due to move soon to different rented accommodation at a lower rent. Her landlord has told her she can expect workmen in to do any repairs while she is still living there: she is 82 and worried about the disruption this will cause. He is also making her pay for a new bath in her current flat because she had handles fitted to it.
A. Your mother should have a tenancy agreement setting out her rights as regards the property. A standard clause is likely to say that she is entitled to the “quiet enjoyment” of the flat, which would rule out major building work while she is living there. She should insist that anything that would cause serious disruption is done before she moves in. However the landlord is probably entitled to, and may be obliged to, carry out minor repairs whilst your mother is in occupation, and may be entitled to charge her for replacing the bath if she had the handles fitted without his permission.

Will confusion
Q. Can the executors of a will benefit from it?
A. Yes, the executors are often (but not necessarily) the main beneficiaries. It’s the witnesses (or their spouses) who must not benefit from a will.

Rotting plot
Q. In between my house and next door there’s a small patch of land owned by a third party. The owner has been refused planning permission to build on it following objections from other residents and because of access problems. Now the land is neglected and attracts trouble-makers, but the owner doesn’t want to know. Instead he wants £20,000 for an oversized garden plot with a couple of fruit trees. Is there anything I can do to make him look after his property?
A. Generally speaking people can’t be made to maintain their property unless there’s a covenant to that effect in their title deeds, and that seems unlikely in this case. Your best bet may be to ask your solicitor to make the owner a reasonable offer for the land: it would certainly add value to your property and you would then be able to control access to it, which could add further value. It’s possible the owner blames you for the fact that he was refused planning permission, but your solicitor may be able to persuade him of the advantages of selling.

Dealing with leftovers
Q. I bought a house, and the previous owner left some items behind. He knew about them, but never returned to collect them. They weren’t mentioned on the list he gave to his solicitor. Are they now my property, or can the previous owner of the house still claim them, even after ten years?
A. It depends what they were. If the items were fixed to the house (e.g. fitted furniture), you will be able to claim that they were part of the house purchase unless they were listed on the property information form as being excluded from the sale. But if the previous owner left behind loose items, such as jewellery, a lawnmower, or paintings on the wall you would have more difficulty claiming ownership. If you’re planning to dispose of them you should warn the previous owner in advance and keep a receipt. The owner wouldn’t have a very good case for claiming compensation from you for their loss.

Little gained
Q. My parents transferred their house to their children in 1995 under a deed of trust. They remained in the property until 2005, when the surviving partner moved to a care home. They never paid rent. The property was then let on a commercial basis and was finally sold in 2007. Will the children pay capital gains tax from 1995, or from 2005 when the asset became realisable?
A. Assuming they didn’t live in the property between 1995 and 2005 the children would pay capital gains tax from the date of the gift, in other words from 1995. It’s possible that the trust deed you mention will spread the capital gains tax burden or remove it altogether if your parents were beneficiaries. But you should take specialist advice on this. Hopefully the arrangement has resulted in a saving on care home fees.

Paying off a rent charge
Q. Could you advise how to acquire and pay a fair price for the right to buy our ground rent? Our house was built in the 1930’s and is freehold, but on the deeds we are require to pay £4 a year. This year we were quoted a price of £200, whilst last year we were quoted £128.
A. Since your house is freehold what you are paying is a rentcharge (also known as a Chief Rent) and is not to be confused with ground rents payable on leasehold property. Pre-1977 rentcharges can be redeemed by obtaining an application form from the Government Office for the North West, City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester M1 4BE. Send in the completed form together with a copy of the deed that created the rentcharge, and they will work out the redemption figure based on a formula contained in the Rentcharges Act 1977.

Barred from garage
Q. There’s a lane at the bottom of my garden that gives rear access to the three cottages in our row. My family has lived here over 100 years, but while I was in hospital my new neighbour blocked off his end of the lane with a farm gate, which means there’s no longer room for me to get into my garage. According to my deeds he’s taken an extra ten yards of the lane, but my neighbour says he’s contacted the Land Registry and my title deeds aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
A. Contrary to your neighbour’s opinion your title deeds are the ultimate authority concerning your property. You should ask a solicitor to look at them. It’s possible that each cottage owns the section of the lane that backs on to it, but that all the cottage owners have access over it to reach their property. In that case your new neighbour may be entitled to put up a gate as long as you can still go through it. Even if you don’t have a defined right of access, if you’ve been using your neighbour’s section of the lane in order to reach your garage over a long period of years he may have great difficulty preventing you doing so now.

Keeping it in the family
Q. I have a small cottage in Wales which is my second home. I would like to sell this it to my son, at less than the market price. Is the process just the same as selling to a stranger?
A. If your son is borrowing money to buy your house the lender will insist on a survey (to ensure the house is worth the amount your son is borrowing) and that a solicitor is involved in the transaction. So it will be very similar to selling a house to a stranger, although you obviously won’t need to involve an estate agent and you may be able to cut short preliminary inquiries about fixtures and fittings and so on. But the sale will give rise to Capital Gains Tax issues and you may end up with a significant tax bill. The reason for this is that in the case of a sale that is not an “arm’s length” transaction it is necessary for the gain in value of the property to be worked out by reference to the open market value rather than the price being paid.

Neighbour encroaching
Q. Builders working next door put up a new fence for my neighbour but in the wrong position. They nailed it to my wall, cracking a brick and moving the downpipe to my conservatory so that the water now just gushes into a hole in the ground. It’s only a matter of inches, but should I insist that the fence is put back where it was? The planning department says it’s a civil matter.
A. It’s not the council’s job to get involved in fence wars. Assuming your title deeds confirm that the original position of the fence was correct you will almost certainly be entitled to have the fence put back into its original position. Your first move should be to ask your neighbour to arrange for the fence to be moved back and for the downpipe to be reinstated. If for whatever reason your neighbour is not prepared to do this, the next step will be to ask your solicitor to send a strong letter threatening proceedings. Court proceedings are likely to be expensive, but it will help you to succeed in the proceedings if you have evidence (ie photographs) showing where the fence was originally.

Tow the line
Q. My neighbours have recently parked a caravan on their drive close to the wall of my house. The deeds to the houses in the road clearly state that owners should not keep caravans, boats etc on the property. Who should be enforcing the covenant?
A. If you live on an estate it’s possible the covenant will have been put in place by the developer, and you could ask the developer to enforce it, although the developer is unlikely to want to get involved unless you agree to fund the costs of enforcing the covenant. Generally, where there is a “Building Scheme” the owners of the houses comprising the estate will have the benefit of restrictions like this and it will be possible for you to action the covenant directly. Restrictive covenants give rise to complex legal issues and you will need to obtain the advice of a solicitor in order to establish the best means of enforcing the restriction.

Freehold purchase
Q. I want to buy the freehold to my house. I have lived here for the last 20 years since the property was built. My understanding is that after five years of paying ground rent the landowner is legally bound to sell me the freehold for a maximum of ten years’ ground rent. Is this true? After an initial discussion the landowner won’t even reply to my letters. Should I withhold further ground rent payments until he does?
A. There is no rule that says the landowner is bound to sell you the freehold for a maximum of ten years’ ground rent. If you can’t agree on a price for the freehold you may have to take the matter to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal can also force a sale under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 if the landowner isn’t being co-operative. You may need a solicitor’s help with this, and unless your ground rent is high it may not be worth your while to pursue it. Don’t withhold payments if you receive a demand. The Leasehold Enfranchisement Advisory Service (0207-374-5380) is very helpful if you need further advice.

Hemmed in by creditors
Q. My elderly parents have recently made a will, but I’ve been told by friends that I am unlikely to see any of their money because of debts hanging over me, such as a mortgage repossession, loan arrears and credit card debts. They say these organisations would grab their chunk first, and there’d be nothing left for me. Is this correct?
A. They would only be able to take your inheritance away from you if you are a declared bankrupt. If you came into money – or it looked as if you were about to come into money – during the period of your bankruptcy, the trustee-in-bankruptcy would be able to intercept it to pay off your debts. Your parents may want to redraft their will at least temporarily! Probably the best arrangement will be for your parents’ estates to pass into Discretionary Trust. It will then be a matter of the trustees waiting until your position is more financially secure before distributing your inheritance to you.

No through road
Q. We live in a group of about 20 houses and pay for the maintenance and upkeep of the land and driveway in. A builder wants to put up some houses across the way and the only access would be through our estate. We’re objecting to this but wondered whether we would be able to do so on legal grounds.
A. It sounds as though the owners of the houses on the estate may only have a right of way over the road. The owner of the road is likely to be the company you pay your service charges to. This company will presumably have the right to decide whether to give the builder access for a fee. For the complete picture you should ask a solicitor to check your property details at the Land Registry. Unless the owners of the houses jointly own the road they may not be able to object. They could object to planning permission for the new houses however, on the basis (for example) of increased traffic through their estate.

No quick solution
Q. I am a pensioner living with my son. We bought our council flat two years ago. My son-in-law has now offered to pay off the mortgage and allow us to live in the property rent free. What would be the easiest way of doing this?
A. This raises so many questions that you must talk it through with a solicitor. Firstly you stand to lose your discount if you transfer ownership of the property within five years. There are ways round this, but it depends what your intentions are. How long is your son to remain in the property rent-free? Until your death, or for his lifetime? Although you will have the benefit of rent-free accommodation, you are in effect giving your son-in-law the discount you built up on the flat. Is your son happy about this? Do your daughter and son-in-law own another home of their own? In that case they could be creating a capital gains tax liability. Then there’s the question of who insures and maintains the property. And so on.

Generous son’s tax bill
Q. My husband was declared bankrupt 15 years ago, and in order for us to keep our home I took out a mortgage jointly with my son. We are due to retire before the mortgage is paid off, and intend to either sell up or pay off the outstanding mortgage with the lump sum from my husband’s pension. My son has a house in Ireland, where he now lives. If we sell, will he have to pay tax on the profit from his share? My husband has always contributed to the mortgage.
A. Possibly, but if your son is a taxpayer in the Republic of Ireland he may well be able to offset some of the tax he pays in the UK against tax he pays there under a “double taxation agreement”. However if your husband has been paying the mortgage for the last 15 years even though it is in your son’s name, it could be that your son is holding that share of the property on trust for your husband and your husband is the true owner. You need to see a solicitor specialising in tax and trusts.

Feeling undervalued
Q. I live in a compulsory purchase area, but the council isn’t paying out what I think the house is worth. Where do we stand in this situation?
A. You are likely to have received notification that you are entitled to engage a chartered surveyor to calculate the value of your property. Reasonable fees incurred in making this calculation should be met by the local authority. You should be offered a sum equivalent to what your house would fetch on the open market if the compulsory purchase scheme was not going ahead. If necessary you can appeal to the Lands Tribunal, but you could expect to pay costs if the tribunal upheld the council’s decision.

Charges on the up
Q. Our apartments are managed by a residents’ association, but there has been no annual general meeting since I moved in three years ago. In the meantime my service charges have increased from £495 to £800 a year. Can they impose these increases without consulting the leaseholders? There are supposed to be four directors, but one has only just been appointed.
A. The way increases are introduced, the frequency of AGMs and the appointment of directors will all be governed by the rules of the association, something which you should study carefully. You will have agreed to abide by these rules in your lease or tenancy agreement. You will be entitled to see a copy of the accounts which will show how your money is being spent.

Will confusion
Q. Can the executors of a will benefit from it?
A. Yes, the executors are often (but not necessarily) the main beneficiaries. It’s the witnesses (or their spouses) who must not benefit from a will.

They want their share
Q. My wife and her sister have a 25% stake in a house with their uncle. They’re now wondering if they can force him to sell it, because it’s been dragging on for ten years.
A. I imagine they will have been left the share in the house in a will – perhaps their father’s? It’s possible such a will gives the uncle the right to remain in the property until his death – if indeed he lives there now. You don’t say. If the uncle lives in the house and is elderly with no means of providing another home for himself it will be very difficult to get him out, even if on paper he has no right to stay. On the other hand if the uncle doesn’t live there the sisters will be able to claim their share. How they go about this will depend on whether the uncle is executor of a will dealing with the property, or whether they are simply joint owners. A visit to a solicitor specialising in this area will quickly resolve these questions.

Charity gift under threat
Q. My sister and I are single and in our late 60’s. We have no dependants and own a property worth about £500,000 including a separate building we intend to rent out. Our wills state that, on the death of either one of us, everything passes to the survivor, and on the survivor’s death the entire property passes to a registered church charity. We wonder however what would happen if one of us had to go into a nursing home: would we be required to sell up to pay the fees?
A. The local authority cannot assess your main property for care home fees purposes while one of you is still living there. However the separate building could well be taken into consideration. It may be an idea to give this, or indeed the whole property, to the charity at this stage while reserving the right to live there and receive income from the rented property. You should take detailed advice from a solicitor specialising in this area of the law. If you have any other assets inheritance tax may become a factor on the first death. However the charity itself is of course exempt from paying inheritance tax.

Extra tax on fuel
Q. My mother lives in a holiday home. The site owner supplies all services such as electricity, gas, water and sewerage. I noticed on my mother’s last quarterly bill that she was charged 17.5% VAT on all services except water. I understood VAT on fuels is 5%.
A. This is likely to be a mistake and your mother should query it with the site owner and ask for a refund. Under regulations introduced on 1st Jan 2003 the site owner can only charge for the electricity used and can only charge what he himself has been charged – in other words the site owner cannot resell gas and electricity at a profit. Even if, as a business, the site pays 17.5% VAT, it can only recover the lower rate in charges made to residents on the site.

Tale told by a fence
Q. My daughter’s neighbour has replaced his fence with a brick wall topped with a wooden fence up to the normal two metres. The problem is that he has bolted the supporting uprights to her side of the wall – the uprights usually signifying the owner of the wall. He refused to rectify this so she has written to him saying she will take the fence down and place it on his side. What is the legality of this? Is there a better way of dealing with it?
A. It’s unwise to fall out with neighbours if at all possible. On the other hand it’s important to stand your ground against encroachment. If the fence does indeed belong to the neighbour it should be built entirely on his property, and your daughter would certainly be within her rights to remove it from hers. The position of the uprights can signify ownership for this reason. But encroachment is so common that it’s not a reliable guide to fence ownership!

Passing strangers
Q. We have lived on a council estate for 40 years and bought our house ten years ago. Since a new neighbour moved in a large number of people have begun using the passageway we share with next door as a short cut into the next road. When I questioned one of the men he told me he knew the girl next door and she didn’t mind, but I find it frightening to have large numbers of strangers passing my back door.
A. If the property next door is still owned by the council you should have a word with your neighbour and your local housing office about the problem. The council will not want this to continue because eventually the short cut could become an established right of way. You may well be entitled to fasten either a door or a gate to the passageway and perhaps even lock it as long as you give your neighbour a key.

Wanting to share
Q. We have recently made our wills, and I find that our title deeds have only got my name on them. We are a married couple, and I feel that my wife’s name should also be on the deeds. Can you advise me what the procedure might be?
A. The way you own your house – either in your sole name, as “beneficial joint tenants” or as “tenants in common”– could be important depending on how much you are likely to leave, whether you have children and whether care home fees could be an issue. For instance, if you are older than your wife and (putting it bluntly) more likely to die before her, it might be sensible for the house to stay in your sole name and for your will to provide that the house should pass into a trust on your death. This would protect the value of your house in circumstances where, following your death, your wife subsequently went into care. You will need a solicitor to deal with the putting of the house into joint names, but before taking this step you should find out what the implications are.

Plan for a dry dormer
Q. About two years ago we had a problem with our dormer roof letting in water. We had it repaired, but the leak continued. A second roofer made some slight repairs and reflashed the chimney, but says the leak is coming from next door. Our neighbour, also a builder, has poured hot tar over his roof and says it is fine, but we still have torrents of water coming in. I have been advised that litigation will cost me thousands, but there seems to be no way of resolving the issue.
A. You could possibly sue your neighbour for “nuisance” but as you say it could be expensive, especially if the facts are in dispute. He may even have a right in the title deeds to discharge water on to your property! There are however procedures under the Party Wall (etc) Act which could help you resolve this problem, either by gaining access to your neighbour’s roof or by installing a barrier between the neighbouring house and your own. A surveyor should be able to come up with possible solutions as well as advising on the formalities required under the Act.

Can we come in?
Q. There’s some open freehold land which hasn’t been fenced off for more than 20 years. There’s nothing in the register about rights of way across it. Have vehicles the right to cross the land, and if so who would be responsible if there was an accident?
A. It depends on the circumstances. If you have looked at the charges registry at the Land Registry to check the legal status of the land it suggests a specific situation has developed. Unfortunately you don’t say what this is and it is therefore only possible to give a general answer. If a landowner let members of the public on to his land knowing there was an uncapped mineshaft he could probably be held liable if someone fell down it. If they walked into a tree he couldn’t. Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 landowners can exclude liability for the dangerous state of their land provided they are prepared to allow the public to come on to it for nothing. It is possible for individuals to develop a right of way across land by usage over many years.

Who deals with problem tenant?
Q. What are the responsibilities of an agent whom one employs to oversee the letting of a house in the event of a problem tenant?
A. It depends what level of service you have signed up for. The first level is introduction only: once the agent has found you a tenant you are on your own. The second level, and correspondingly more expensive, will have the agent collecting your rent for you, but you will still have to inspect the property and take action in the event of problems. If you have signed up to a full management service you will probably be able to expect your agent to maintain the property and deal with difficulties as they arise. Check your contract to see what you have signed up to. You should probably see a solicitor if you need to evict the tenant for breach of the tenancy agreement.

Flats in my garden
Q. Some 50 years ago a block of flats was built on land next to my property. I have recently found out that part of the building encroaches on to land of which I am the leaseholder. Would I have a claim for compensation after all these years?
A. You won’t have a claim for compensation, but the freeholder (from whom you lease the land) might. This is a complicated area, but you as the leaseholder will have lost your rights to the land after 12 years through “adverse possession”. However the freeholder, or landlord, cannot lose land in this way until the lease has expired, and has the right to recover the land for 12 years from that date.

Coming out in the wash
Q. Before buying a new house we discussed the design with the builder who provided us with detailed dimensional drawings. However when we moved in, the wall between the kitchen and the utility room was slightly out of line, the result being that we can’t fit a normal size washing machine in the space designed for it. Are we entitled to compensation? After initially suggesting various unsatisfactory solutions they refuse to discuss the matter further.
A. If you’d spotted this immediately you may have been entitled to pull out of buying the house. A house that cannot accommodate a washing machine is evidently unsatisfactory, but if you can put it somewhere else, or a minor adjustment is possible, you may have to compromise. If there is nowhere else for the washing machine to go you are probably entitled to demand that the builder demolishes the wall and rebuilds it in the correct place. If you are dealing with a large firm they may eventually agree to this. A court would be likely to agree that a new house should be able to accommodate a standard-size w