My partner and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette in Rayners Lane with TSB. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults 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 property is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the TSB 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?
First, rest assured that your TSB 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 TSB. This is solely used to protect TSB 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 TSB 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.
The Rayners Lane conveyancing solicitors that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Rayners Lane have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the TSB conveyancing panel and my previous Rayners Lane lawyer was not. I paid them money in advance. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the TSB conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
A relative suggested that if I am purchasing in Rayners Lane I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Rayners Lane conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Rayners Lane around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Rayners Lane Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Rayners Lane.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Rayners Lane is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Rayners Lane are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Rayners Lane you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Rayners Lane 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 property.
I am looking for a conveyancing lawyer in Rayners Lane for my sale. Is there any facility to see a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
One can see published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions arising from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. For details about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors record, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA sometimes monitor call for training requirements.
Last November I purchased a leasehold property in Rayners Lane. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am the proprietor of a garden flat in Rayners Lane. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Rayners Lane conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Rayners Lane premises is GFF 1 Holyrood Avenue in May 2014. The Tenant wished to acquire a new (extended) lease and applied to the Willesden County Court who granted a vesting order on 20* March2013. The Tribunal decied that the premium to be paid was £9,062 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 79 years.