My husband and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Forest Hall with Skipton. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Skipton conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 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 Skipton. This is solely used to protect Skipton 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 Skipton 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.
Finally the sale completed on my house in Forest Hall last February yet the purchaser is e-mailing me complaining that their conveyancer is waiting to hear from mine. What should my lawyer have done now that I have sold?
Following your sale your solicitor is obliged to forward the transfer deeds and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. If applicable, your conveyancer should also confirm that the mortgage has been paid off to the buyers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion requirements just for conveyancing in Forest Hall.
I am considering applying for a Principality mortgage for purchase of a new build (under development) in Forest Hall with 60% loan to value. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Principality ?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Principality conveyancing panel, but Principality would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.
Have just purchased a repossessed house at auction in Forest Hall. Conveyancing is needed. What is next?
Now that you have to all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you will need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner quickly as you are facing a fast approaching deadline in which to complete the deal. Every auction property should have an associated legal pack. This will include most,if not all of the documents that your conveyancer requires. If you have purchased leasehold premises the conveyancing papers may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation specific to a leasehold property. You need to pass this on to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. Do make sure that you have funds in order to complete on the date specified in the contract.
Is it correct that all Forest Hall CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Santander conveyancing panel?
A selection of banks and building societies now make use of CQS as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of firms.
Is it the case that all Forest Hall solicitor practices on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the SRA. The majority of mortgage companies do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be governed by the CLC.
I'm buying a new build house in Forest Hall with the aid of help to buy. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The house builders rep told me not reveal to my solicitor about the side-deal as it would put at risk my loan with Bank of Scotland. 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.
We expect to complete the disposal of our £275,000 garden flat in Forest Hall in 10 days. The management company has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Forest Hall?
Forest Hall conveyancing on leasehold flats usually involves the buyer’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.
I bought a studio flat in Forest Hall, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2009. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable flats in Forest Hall with a long lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2100
With only 74 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.