My partner and I are refinancing our maisonette in Kemp Town with Yorkshire BS. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 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 apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights 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 Yorkshire BS. This is solely used to protect Yorkshire BS 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 Yorkshire BS 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.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am new to the process as FTB of a ground floor flat in Kemp Town. Do I collect the keys to the property on the completion date from my conveyancer? If so, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Kemp Town?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s conveyancers, 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 am being advised by my lawyer that lack of planning permission insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Kemp Town conveyancing?
The right level of lack of planning permission indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between HSBC Bank and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.
I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Kemp Town solicitor - who is on the Nationwide conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Nationwide will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nationwide will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your property lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Kemp Town postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Nationwide, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Kemp Town.
My wife and I are downsizing from our home in Kemp Town and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. A high street Kemp Town lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used an internet conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Kemp Town. We have lived in Kemp Town for 5 years we know of no issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to get clarification need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same illness)
I have a semi-detached Victorian property in Kemp Town. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Nationwide Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Kemp Town and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
As co-executor for the estate of my aunt I am disposing of a property in Swansea but live in Kemp Town. My conveyancer (based 260 miles from mehas requested that I execute a statutory declaration before the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in Kemp Town who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
Technically speaking you should not need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are based in Kemp Town
Expecting to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Kemp Town. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Kemp Town should include some of the following:
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What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice? Repair and maintenance of the premises What remedies are open the freeholder should you breach a clause of your lease?
I acquired a leasehold flat in Kemp Town, conveyancing was carried out in 1998. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in Kemp Town with a long lease are worth £265,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2102
With just 76 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.