My fiance and I are refinancing our maisonette in Dalston with RBS. We have a son 19 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, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the RBS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 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 RBS. This is solely used to protect RBS 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 RBS 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 the registered owner of a freehold property in Dalston but still charged rent, why is this and what is this?
It’s unusual for properties in Dalston and has limited impact for conveyancing in Dalston but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the creation of new rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Previous rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 will be dispensed with completely.
My grandmother passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Dalston. The house had a small mortgage remaining of approximately £8000. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Bank of Ireland, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
Given you intend to refinance then Bank of Ireland will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Bank of Ireland mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
What can a local search reveal about the house we're buying in Dalston?
Dalston conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for example Onsearch The local search is essential in every Dalston conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any nasty surprises after you move into your property. The search should provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic areas.
I have a semi-detached Georgian house in Dalston. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Barnsley Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Dalston and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing practitioner who completed the work.
I purchased a house in Dalston last 9/6/2020 and to date it is still not recorded with HM Land Registry. It was part of a new estate and my property lawyer told me that it may take 12 months to complete the registration formalities. I have spoken with the Land Registry directly and they say that the initial application was cancelled due to failure to reply to requisitions. What can I do?
Call your lawyer - if you are not getting sensible responses, find out about their internal complaints process and amplify your problem to a Complaints Manager. Registrations for Dalston conveyancing are not known to be particularly slow.