My husband and I are refinancing our flat in Crystal Palace with Kent Reliance. We have a son 18 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. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish 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 Kent Reliance. This is solely used to protect Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance 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 step-mother sell her house in Crystal Palace. Will the solicitor order an energy assessment or it is for me to coordinate?
Following the demise of HIPs, energy performance certificates remained a required component of selling a house. An EPC should be commissioned prior to the property being advertised. It is not as aspect of the sale process that lawyers normally organise. If you are using a Crystal Palace conveyancing lawyer they might be able to arrange EPC’s due to their contacts with reputable local energy assessors
This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a ground floor flat in Crystal Palace. Do I collect the keys to the house on completion from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Crystal Palace?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
I'm the only recipient of my late grandmother’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Crystal Palace. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in February. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship could be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in February. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be caught by that. Some banks would take a pragmatic view as this provision principally exists to identify subsales or the flipping of property.
Should our conveyancer be asking questions concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Crystal Palace.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in Crystal Palace. There are those who purchase a property in Crystal Palace, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Lawyers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a number of checks that may be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should figure out the risks in Crystal Palace. The conventional set of property information forms given to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a usual question of the owner to determine whether the premises has historically flooded. If flooding has previously occurred and is not revealed by the vendor, then a purchaser could commence a compensation claim resulting from an inaccurate reply. A purchaser’s conveyancers should also carry out an environmental search. This will reveal if there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries will need to be made.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Crystal Palace. Now, I need my files but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do 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 Crystal Palace 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 opted to have a survey completed on a house in Crystal Palace in advance of instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to give a loan on this type of property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can check via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Crystal Palace. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I am 14 days into a residential purchase having been recommend to a firm by the local agent to handle our conveyancing in Crystal Palace. I am am starting to be frustrated with the quality of service. Can you help me find new lawyers?
They would need to be really poor to suggest diss instructing them. Has the mortgage been sent? In the event that it has you will need to make them aware of the replacement solicitor and ensure the loan are re-issued. Your conveyancer needs to be on the banks panel to avoid added expenses and delays. So that should be your first question of the new lawyers. Our find a solicitor tool can assist you in finding a bank approved solicitor for your home move in Crystal Palace