My partner and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Cornwall with Virgin Money. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. 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, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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.
I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in Cornwall. I I am struggling to find out whether they are accepted on the TSB conveyancing panel. Can you advise?
The first thing to do is contact the lawyer and ask them if they can act for the bank. Alternatively you can get in touch with TSB who may be able to assist.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Cornwall is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Cornwall are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Cornwall you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Cornwall may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
We're new to the buying process - agreed a price, but the agent has warned us that the vendor will only go ahead if we instruct their preferred solicitors as they want a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local conveyancer with experience of conveyancing in Cornwall
It is unlikely the vendors are behind this. Should the owner require ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated buyer is going to damage their objectives. Speak to the owners direct and make the point that (a)you are motivated buyers (b)you are ready to go, with finances arranged © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you are going to use your preferred Cornwall conveyancing lawyers - as opposed tothose that will provide the estate agent a commission or achieve conveyancing thresholds demanded by corporate headquarters.
Last October I purchased a leasehold property in Cornwall. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I bought a studio flat in Cornwall, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in Cornwall with a long lease are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2090
With only 66 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £12,400 and £14,200 plus legals.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.
Is there a reason that Cornwall conveyancing charges differ for leasehold and freehold properties?
When purchasing a leasehold property there is more work involved purely due to the fact that usually there are further parties involved in the form of the freeholder and/or Management Agents. As part of a lawyers enquiries they will check that all ground rent and service charges are paid up to date amongst other general leasehold matters. For this reason, the Sellers lawyers usually have to refer to the freeholder or Managing Agent for their replies to our questions. This may be time consuming and beyond the lawyers control