My fiance and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Surbiton with Virgin Money. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Virgin Money. This is solely used to protect Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my solicitor is removed from the Leeds Building Society Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Surbiton?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
I have been told that property searches are the main cause of delay in Surbiton house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Surbiton.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Surbiton in advance of instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. The surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to grant a loan on such a property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Halifax. If you call us we can check with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Surbiton. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Surbiton especially if they are acquainted with such properties in Surbiton.
In what way does the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my business property in Surbiton and how can your lawyers assist?
The particular law that you refer to gives a safeguard to commercial tenants, granting the dueness to make a request to court for a continuation of occupancy at the end of an expired lease. There are certain specified grounds that a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. We are happy to direct you to commercial conveyancing firms who use the act for protection and help with commercial conveyancing in Surbiton
In my capacity as executor for the will of my aunt I am disposing of a house in Cardiff but live in Surbiton. My solicitor (approximately 235 kilometers from mehas requested that I sign a stat dec ahead of the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Surbiton to attest and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you are not likely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or solicitor will do regardless of whether they are based in Surbiton