My wife and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Lowestoft with Lloyds. 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 property is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Lloyds conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise 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 Lloyds. This is solely used to protect Lloyds 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 Lloyds 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 about to put a bid on a leasehold flat in Lowestoft. The estate agents advise that it is normal for flats in Lowestoft to have less than 75 years remaining. I am getting a mortgage with Tesco Bank. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has Seventy One years left.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Tesco Bank have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 30/9/2024 the requirements read as follows :
I am close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our house in Lowestoft and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being built on contaminated land. A high street Lowestoft lawyer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers instructed a national conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Lowestoft. We have lived in Lowestoft for three years we know that this is a non issue. Should we contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor already. What do they say? You should enquire of 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 health insurance to cover that same ailment)
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Lowestoft?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Lowestoft. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on last month in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Lowestoft is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Lowestoft are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Lowestoft you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Lowestoft may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I am 17 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the high street agent to do our conveyancing in Lowestoft. We are not happy. Can you help me find new lawyers?
A solicitor would have to be really poor in order to consider changing them. Has the mortgage offer been issued? If so you need to advise them of the new contact details and ensure the loan are re-sent. Your conveyancer should be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid added charges and complications. That should be your starting point. The search tool will assist you in finding a bank approved conveyancer for your conveyancing in Lowestoft