My wife and I intend to remortgage our flat in Barnes Cray with Virgin Money. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults 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 apartment is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he never had 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?
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 Virgin Money. This is solely used to protect Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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.
Our mortgage company has suggested solicitors on their panel based in Barnes Cray but I would rather use a conveyancing lawyer in Barnes Cray round the corner to me. Are you able to help?
The minority of Barnes Cray conveyancing practices are on all banks conveyancing panel. Please make the most of our search tool to find a Barnes Cray conveyancing solicitor on the on the lender panel.
I'm the only beneficiary of my late grandmother’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Barnes Cray. The Barnes Cray property was put into my name in November. I plan to dispose of the property. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship could be treated the same way as though I had purchased the property in November. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be caught by that. Most banks would take a pragmatic view as this requirement is chiefly there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of properties.
My husband and I have organised a further advance on our home loan from Aldermore as we wish to carry out renovations to our property in Barnes Cray. Do we need to appoint a bricks and mortar Barnes Cray solicitor on the Aldermore conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Aldermore do not ordinarily instruct a member of their conveyancing panel to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Aldermore panel.
I have instructed a Barnes Cray lawyer having made sure that they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Coventry BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Coventry BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Barnes Cray surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Various internet forums that I have frequented warn that are a common reason for delay in Barnes Cray house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Barnes Cray.
I opted to have a survey completed on a property in Barnes Cray before appointing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor advised that some lenders will not grant a loan on such a home.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions for example to Halifax. If you e-mail us we can investigate further with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Barnes Cray. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Barnes Cray to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I only have Seventy years left on my flat in Barnes Cray. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?
If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Barnes Cray.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a Barnes Cray conveyancing firm to help?
if there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to judgment on the price.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Barnes Cray property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76 years.