Cut out of sale
Q. We were interested in buying the property next door when our neighbour died. We approached his executor and were referred to the estate agents, but were told the house wasn’t on the market. Later we were told the property was sold the first day it was put up for sale. We believe the estate agent deliberately withheld details from other potential buyers; would it be possible to take any form of action against the agent or the executor?
A. The executor is duty bound to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries of the will, but unless you are a beneficiary yourself you won’t be able to take action against an executor who falls short in this regard. However you should ask the executor whether he or she was aware that potential buyers had been excluded from the sale. Under the Estate Agents Act 1979 it is an “undesirable practice” for agents to fail to pass on offers or to discriminate against one potential buyer in favour of another. If the executor feels as aggrieved as you, you should jointly ask trading standards officers to investigate.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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