My fiance and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Leaves Green with Yorkshire BS. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Yorkshire BS. This is solely used to protect Yorkshire BS 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 Yorkshire BS 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.
It is 10 years ago since I acquired my property in Leaves Green. Conveyancing lawyers have now been instructed on the sale but I am unable to locate the title documents. Will this cause complications?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be with the mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the solicitor who acted in the purchase. Secondly in all probability the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors acquiring up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Leaves Green relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.
My wife and I purchasing a victorian detached house in Leaves Green. We would like to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will the conveyancing process include checks to ascertain if these alterations are prohibited?
Your solicitor should check the registered title as conveyancing in Leaves Green will sometimes reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prevent certain alterations or require the consent of another owner. Many works need local authority planning consent and approval in accordance building regulations. Many locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or affect extensions. It would be prudent to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
I currently have a mortgage with Virgin Money for my property in Leaves Green. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Virgin Money?
Your original mortgage agreement with Virgin Money will provide that you need their approval before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Virgin Money’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Virgin Money will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Virgin Money directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Virgin Money conveyancing panel firm.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Leaves Green. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A couple of days later, the lawyer called me to say that they were not on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Aldermore panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
It has been 2 months following my purchase conveyancing in Leaves Green completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Should I be suspicious about estate agents that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Leaves Green conveyancing practice?
As with lots of professional services, often recommendations from family and friends can be worth their weight in gold. Nevertheless there are lots of parties with a vested interest in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, financial adviser and mortgage companies may suggest lawyers to choose. On occasion the solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but occasionally there behind the scenes commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to appoint your preferred conveyancer. Don't forget that some banks operate an approved list of lawyers you are obliged to use for the lender related work in your transaction.
I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Leaves Green. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What should I do?
On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Leaves Green.
I am the registered owner of a ground-floor 1950’s flat in Leaves Green. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?
if there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the price.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Leaves Green property is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 50.57 years.