Find a Lender-Approved Local Conveyancer in Bridgend

My partner and I swapping mortgage lender for our maisonette in Bridgend with TSB. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the TSB conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights to inherit the property?

First, rest assured that your TSB 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 TSB. This is solely used to protect TSB 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 TSB 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 am assisting my aunt sell her property in Bridgend. Does the conveyancer commission the energy assessment or it is for me to coordinate?

Following the abolition of Home Information Packs, energy assessments was retained a mandatory component of selling a property. An energy assessment should be commissioned prior to the property being advertised. It is not a task that lawyers normally organise. Where you are using a Bridgend conveyancing solicitor they might be able to arrange EPC’s given their contacts with reputable local providers

I have paid off my mortgage with Principality. I assume I don't need a Bridgend solicitor on the Principality panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?

If you have finished paying off your Principality mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Principality mortgage from the register. Principality, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Principality has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Principality has instructed the Land Registry to do so

The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your Principality mortgage has been paid off.

I currently have a mortgage with Virgin Money for my property in Bridgend. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. Should I wish 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 prior to 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 lawyer.

Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house can not be found. The conveyancers who handled the conveyancing in Bridgend 10 years ago have long since closed. What are my options?

You no longer need to have the physical official documentation to evidence that you are the registered proprietor of land or premises, as the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.

I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Bridgend for my sale. Is there any facility to review a solicitor's record with the legal regulator?

You may search for presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find records Pre 2008, or to check a firm's record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. International callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA sometimes monitor telephone calls for training purposes.

Completion is due on the sale of our £475,000 garden flat in Bridgend in 10 days. The management company has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Bridgend?

For most leasehold sales in Bridgend conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

Completing pre-contract enquiries Where consent is required before sale in Bridgend Supplying insurance information Deeds of covenant upon sale Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Bridgend leasehold premises is £350. For Bridgend conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply the information.

Bridgend Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

For many Bridgend leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Bridgend require leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Most Bridgend leasehold properties will have a service charge for maintenance of the building levied on behalf of the landlord. Where you buy the property you will have to meet this charge, usually periodically throughout the year. This can differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common areas. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because sometimes it can be surprisingly expensive. Be sure to investigate if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For instance it is very common in Bridgend leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Bridgend. If you like the apartmentin Bridgend however your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced difficult decision.

My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Bridgend. I need to find out if they are on the bank's approved list of lawyers. Could you assist?

One option is to phone your solicitor and ask them if they are on the lender's panel. Alternatively please get in touch with us and we can make some checks for you. If they are not on the lender panel we we can help find a quality conveyancing solicitor in Bridgend on the panel for your mortgage company.