My fiance and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Oxton with Leeds Building Society. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing 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 Leeds Building Society. This is solely used to protect Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society 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.
My husband and I wish to acquire a newly converted flat in Oxton with a loan from Barnsley Building Society.We have a Oxton conveyancing practitioner but Barnsley Building Society says his firm is not on their "panel". It seems we have no choice but to instruct a Barnsley Building Society panel lawyer or keep our local solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The loan offered to you is subject to its various provisions, a common one being that conveyancers needs to be on the Barnsley Building Society approved list. in the past, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Barnsley Building Society
Should our conveyancer be raising enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Oxton.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers specialising in conveyancing in Oxton. There are those who acquire a property in Oxton, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Conveyancers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a various searches that can be undertaken by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Oxton. The standard property information forms given to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard question of the vendor to determine whether the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not revealed by the seller, then a buyer may bring a claim for damages stemming from an incorrect answer. A buyer’s lawyers may also order an environmental report. This should higlight if there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be made.
I used Wolstenholmes several years past for my conveyancing in Oxton. Now, I need my documents however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should call 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 Oxton of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am purchasing my first flat in Oxton with the aid of help to buy. The builders would not budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent suggested that I not disclose to my solicitor about this side-deal as it will impact my mortgage with Barclays . Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
I have been pointed in your direction by a number of selling agents in Oxton to choose a conveyancer using your seach tool. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to offer your site rather than another?
We don’t make any financial incentive for directing people our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.