My partner and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Blyth with Bank of Ireland. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify 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 flat is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise 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 Bank of Ireland. This is solely used to protect Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland 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.
We are purchasing a property and the conveyancer has identified Chancel Repair to which the property could be liable because it falls into the area of such a church. He has recommended insurance. Is this really appropriate for conveyancing in Blyth
Unless a prior acquisition of the house took place post 12 October 2013 you can assume that solicitors handling conveyancing in Blyth to continue to propose a a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
How does conveyancing in Blyth differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Blyth contact us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Blyth tend to purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Blyth or who has acted in the same development.
I have been advised by numerous property agents in Blyth to choose a property lawyer using your seach tool. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to promote your services over and above alternative conveyancing organisations?
We don’t offer any commission for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand a fee as a client could think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
My brother has suggested that I instruct his conveyancers in Blyth. Should I find my own solicitor?
Much as we are happy to recommend a Blyth conveyancing lawyer the ideal way to select a conveyancing practitioner is to get feedback from friends or family who have previously instructed the conveyancer that you are are thinking of instructing.
Me and my partner have just had an offer agreed on a flat and had meeting on Tuesday with HSBC for the mortgage. They have informed us that when it comes to choosing a conveyancer that unless they are on their approved list of conveyancers then we will incur a further fee of £200. This is is due to the fact that they will then have to instruct a conveyancer to act for them in addition to the one we appoint for ourselves and we are liable for their costs. I have asked HSBC to provide me with a list so I can obtain quotes only from their approved conveyancers but was told they dont have such a list to hand over. Is there a simple way of finding out who is on a lender panel?
You should ask HSBC what their panel criteria is for a conveyancer.Thereafter ask the lawyer of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on loans for HSBC in the past. Where the answer to those is yes, then just double check with HSBC. Alternatively please make use of our search tool and we may be able to find you a conveyancer in Blyth on the panel for HSBC.