Our nephew is in the process of securing a house that has just been built in Albany Park with a home loan from Santander. His solicitor has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Santander conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Santander conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with HSBC. Albany Park conveyancing lawyers are chosen. How long does it take for HSBC to send the offer to the conveyancer?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have HSBC completed the valuation? Have you informed HSBC as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the HSBC conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I have paid off my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Albany Park conveyancer on the UBS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your UBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The mortgage over my property is with UBS for my property in Albany Park. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform UBS?
UBS must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of UBS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact UBS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a UBS conveyancing panel firm.
Will my solicitor be making enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Albany Park.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Albany Park. There are those who purchase a house in Albany Park, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a various checks that can be initiated by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which can figure out the risks in Albany Park. The standard information supplied to a buyer’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a usual question of the vendor to determine if the property has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred and is not revealed by the seller, then a purchaser may commence a legal claim for losses as a result of such an misleading answer. The purchaser’s solicitors may also order an environmental report. This will higlight if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further investigations will need to be initiated.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Albany Park?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Albany Park. 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 am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one near me in Albany Park I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it's only got 61 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Albany Park in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for my conveyancing in Albany Park. I happened to chance upon a web site which seems to have the ideal offering If there is a chance to get all the legals done via phone that would be ideal. Should I be wary? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?