My fiance and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Alvaston with Clydesdale. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Clydesdale conveyancing panel as he never had 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 Clydesdale 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 Clydesdale. This is solely used to protect Clydesdale 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 Clydesdale 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 clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Barclays Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Alvaston?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. 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.
Various internet forums that I have frequented warn that are the primary cause of stalling in Alvaston conveyancing transactions. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Alvaston.
I have justfound out that Wolstenholmes have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Alvaston for a purchase of a leasehold flat 10 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?
The easiest method to check if the property is registered to you, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Alvaston conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in Alvaston differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Alvaston approach us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is constructed. This is because house builders in Alvaston tend to buy the real estate, 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 Alvaston or who has acted in the same development.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on last month in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Alvaston is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can give?
Flying freeholds in Alvaston are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Alvaston you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Alvaston 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.