My husband and I changing mortgage lender for our flat in Stretford with Santander. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify 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, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Santander conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 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 Santander 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 Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander 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 Santander 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.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Coventry BS Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Stretford?
First, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
Should my solicitor be asking questions about flooding during the conveyancing in Stretford.
Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers dealing with homes in Stretford. Plenty of people will acquire a house in Stretford, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a various checks that may be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will figure out the risks in Stretford. The standard information given to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a usual question of the owner to find out whether the premises has historically flooded. If the premises has been flooded in past which is not revealed by the seller, then a purchaser could issue a legal claim for losses as a result of such an misleading answer. The purchaser’s lawyers should also order an environmental report. This will disclose if there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations should be made.
I am looking for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Stretford I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it only has 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Stretford in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan that many years may be problematic. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Stretford. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?
The majority of houses in Stretford are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Stretford in which case you should be shopping around for a Stretford conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.
I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Stretford, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Stretford with an extended lease are worth £227,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2098
You have 72 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
How up-to-date is your database of lawyers on the bank conveyancing panel in Stretford? Do the mortgage companies send you an updated list?
Stretford law firm practices and firms conducting conveyancing in Stretford themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the lender conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from the bank directly.