My partner and I swapping mortgage lender for our apartment in Bath with UBS. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the UBS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 5 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 UBS. This is solely used to protect UBS 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 UBS 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.
My wife and I are purchasing a flat in Bath. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to send funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our monies?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I can see plenty of information on this site about conveyancing in Bath but what is your top tip for choosing the right conveyancer in Bath
Do not opt for the lowest Bath conveyancing fees. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
Are all Bath Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Co-operative conveyancing list of approved firms?
A selection of lenders now utilise CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of firms.
A colleague suggested that if I am purchasing in Bath I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Bath conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Bath around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Bath Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Bath Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Bath.
About to purchase a new build apartment in Bath. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Here are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Bath
-
Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision.
I was advised by a number of estate agents in Bath to locate a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to promote your site over and above alternative conveyancing organisations?
We refuse to offer any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
I am intending to rent out my leasehold flat in Bath. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?
Notwithstanding that your last Bath conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.
I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Bath, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Bath with an extended lease are worth £201,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2090
With 65 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £13,300 and £15,400 as well as costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.