My partner and I are refinancing our maisonette in Bedmond with HSBC. 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, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise 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 HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC 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 HSBC 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.
I had intended to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Bedmond for our home move. Our broker informed us that our mortgage company TSB won't deal with them. Surely this is unfair competition?
Pre- 2008 most banks had a different appetite for risk. Almost all Bedmond conveyancing firms would have been on many mortgage company panels. The financial services regulator in 2010 completed a thematic review into mortgage fraud which concluded: mortgage lenders should know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, lenders have regularly sought more information from law firms relating to their operations and the individuals who work for them and set certain criteria such a completing on a minimum number of conveyancing. Many Bedmond conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have Unblemished track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Bedmond is one of the many areas where the solicitors showing on our search results are members of the panel for TSB.
My father advised me that in purchasing a property in Bedmond there may be various restrictions as to what one can do in terms of external alterations to a property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Bedmond which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Bedmond should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Co-operative as we want to carry out alterations to our property in Bedmond. Do we need to choose a high street Bedmond solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Co-operative would not normally appoint firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Co-operative panel.
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in August 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Clydesdale are being pedantic. The Bedmond solicitor who is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Clydesdale are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Clydesdale have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Clydesdale have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Clydesdale may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Bedmond?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Bedmond. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in Bedmond I like with a park and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Bedmond for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.
Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Bedmond conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?
When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Bedmond conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggest that you speak with several firms including non Bedmond conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. The following questions could be useful:
-
How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Bedmond in the last year?
I purchased a ground floor flat in Bedmond, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2007. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Bedmond with over 90 years remaining are worth £255,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2099
With 73 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.