I was advised today by my lender that my Beaminster solicitor is not on the bank Solicitor panel. What can I do to be sure if this is correct?
Your first step should be to call your Beaminster conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the approved list of lawyers for your bank.
My fiance and I are refinancing our penthouse in Beaminster with Aldermore. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Aldermore conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights 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 Aldermore. This is solely used to protect Aldermore 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 Aldermore 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.
The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in Beaminster. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
I can not work out if my bank requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Beaminster bank branch on a couple of occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My Beaminster conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they would not lend in accordance with their published requirements. I simply don't know who is right.
Provided that the conveyancer is on the mortgage company panel, she or he must adhere to the CML Handbook provisions for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Beaminster. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £225. A couple of days later, the conveyancer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the RBS 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 RBS 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.
Just had an offer accepted on a new build apartment in Beaminster. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Beaminster
-
There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal.
Am I best advised to instruct a Beaminster conveyancing lawyer based in the area that I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can execute the legal formalities however her office is a couple of hundredmiles away.
The primary upside of using a local Beaminster conveyancing practice is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, hand in your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If if people you trust used your friend and they were content that must surpass using an unfamiliar Beaminster conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being round the corner.
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my lease in Beaminster. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Beaminster.
I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Beaminster, conveyancing having been completed 8 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Beaminster with an extended lease are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2078
With just 58 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £23,800 and £27,400 plus legals.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.