My husband and I swapping mortgage lender for our apartment in Covent Garden with Clydesdale. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose 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 two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Clydesdale conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Clydesdale 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 Clydesdale. This is solely used to protect Clydesdale 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 Clydesdale 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 aiming to move house in April. Should my conveyancing solicitor update the removal company on the completion day. As an aside, can you recommend a removal company in Covent Garden. Conveyancing lawyer was chosen before I stumbled across this page.
On the day of completion you will need to pick up the keys from the selling agent however this can only take place once the vendors solicitors confirm to the agent that they acknowledge receipt of the completion payment and the keys can be passed over. You should tell the removal company that you are ready to move in. As a matter of policy we do not suggest a particular removal company but can help you locate a conveyancing in Covent Garden or a lawyer with expertise in conveyancing in Covent Garden.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Covent Garden. I have a mortgage agreed with Barclays. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Barclays, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Covent Garden. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £175. Soon after, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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.
I used Wolstenholmes several years past for my conveyancing in Covent Garden. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Covent Garden of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am purchasing a new build house in Covent Garden benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent advised me not inform my lawyer about this extras as it will impact my mortgage with Halifax. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Covent Garden in advance of instructing lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor advised that some lenders may refuse to grant a mortgage on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Halifax. If you call us we can check via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Covent Garden. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
Is it simple use the search facility to select a conveyancing practitioner in Covent Garden on the authorised to act for my bank?
1st select a lender such as Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Royal Bank of Scotland or Godiva Mortgages Ltd then type in your preferred area such as Covent Garden. Conveyancing organisations in Covent Garden and nationally should be identified.