My fiance and I are refinancing our apartment in Spitalfields with Aldermore. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify 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 apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Aldermore 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?
First, rest assured that your Aldermore 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 Aldermore. This is solely used to protect Aldermore 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 Aldermore 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.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Spitalfields costs more?
The conveyancing costs on a leasehold property in Spitalfields is frequently more expensive than on a freehold property. This is because there is an amount of additional work necessary in dealing with the landlord and management company to collate the information about whether the rent and maintenance fee have been discharged and whether there are any significant expenditure in the near future on repairs or maintenance of the building.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Spitalfields. My lender is Accord Mortgages
Accord Mortgages have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 25/4/2024, the requirements read as follows :
My wife and I purchasing a 3 bedroom semi in Spitalfields. Our aim is to an extension at the rear at the house.Will legal due diligence on the property include checks to ascertain if these alterations are allowed?
Your conveyancer will review the registered title as conveyancing in Spitalfields will sometimes reveal restrictions in the title deeds which prohibit categories of works or require the permission of another owner. Many extensions call for local authority planning consent and approval in compliance with building regulations. Many areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
I am being told by my solicitor that breach of easement insurance is required on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Spitalfields conveyancing?
The appropriate level of breach of easement indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Santander and Virgin Money. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.
We had chosen conveyancing lawyers located in Spitalfields on the Principality solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional sum for handling the Principality mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Principality?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your lawyer is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Principality but by your Spitalfields solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Principality panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Spitalfields. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.
If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Spitalfields - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Notwithstanding our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Spitalfields. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
if there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Spitalfields property is 1-41 Royal Tower Lodge 40 Cartwright Street in April 2013. the tribunal adding the agreed value of capitalised ground rents and the reversion the price to be paid for the freehold was £1,187,000 This case was in relation to 41 flats. The unexpired lease term was 107 years.
Why do Spitalfields conveyancing costs differ for leasehold and freehold properties?
Inevitably there is more work required in leasehold conveyancing. Spitalfields has many leasehold properties. There is more time involved in the purchase: for example, the lease and leasehold information (including current service charge, ground rent and buildings insurance details) obtained from the freeholder or managing agents. There are strict criteria that the lease must meet in order to be acceptable to a mortgage company. If it does not meet these requirements, the lease must be amended, which can involve additional expense for the seller.