My husband and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette in Rufford with Leeds Building Society. We have a son 18 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 forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 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 wife and I purchased a terraced Edwardian house in Rufford. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Barclays . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. Is it worth asking Barclays to clarify?
You should 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Rufford and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
How does conveyancing in Rufford differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Rufford come to us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is completed. This is because builders in Rufford typically acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Rufford or who has acted in the same development.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Rufford I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Rufford in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
In what way can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my commercial property in Rufford and how can your lawyers assist?
The particular law that you refer to gives protection to business leaseholders, granting the a statutory right to apply to court for a continuation of occupancy at the end of the lease term. There are limited grounds that a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Rufford is one of the hundreds of locations in which the firms we work with are located
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Rufford with the aim of speeding up the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rufford can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ solicitors. A minority of Rufford leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Rufford state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance. Many freeholders or Management Companies in Rufford levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold home. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rufford.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Rufford - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying
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It is important to be aware if changing the roof or some other major work is anticipated to be shared between the leaseholders and could well materially impact the level of the maintenance charges or necessitate a specific payment. If a Rufford lease has less than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Ruffordlease extensions you would need to own the property for 24 months before you are legally able to extend the lease. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?