My fiance and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette in West Ham with Aldermore. We have a son 19 who lives with us. 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, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Aldermore conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement 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 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.
Do lawyers request an advanced payment for conveyancing in West Ham?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in West Ham your solicitor will request that you place them with monies to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is as part of the total price then this will be needed shortly in advance of exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is due should be transferred shortly before completion.
We are selling our apartment in West Ham. Will my lawyer have to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Skipton conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently in recent years.
Will our lawyer be raising questions regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in West Ham.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers carrying out conveyancing in West Ham. Some people will purchase a house in West Ham, fully 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, suitable insurance cover, or sell the property. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Solicitors are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous searches that can be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should figure out the risks in West Ham. The standard completed inquiry forms sent to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a standard question of the seller to determine if the premises has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the seller, then a purchaser may commence a legal claim for losses resulting from an inaccurate response. The purchaser’s solicitors should also order an environmental report. This will reveal if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries will need to be conducted.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in West Ham?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in West Ham. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. West Ham is where the house is located. Can you offer any guidance?
Flying freeholds in West Ham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside West Ham you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in West Ham may decide 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 premises.