My partner and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Biddenham with UBS. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the UBS 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?
First, rest assured that your UBS 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 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 partner and I have organised the release of further monies on our mortgage from Aldermore as we intend to conduct a loft conversion to our home in Biddenham. Do we need to choose a local Biddenham solicitor on the Aldermore conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Aldermore would not normally instruct firms on 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 conveyancing panel.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Yorkshire BS. Biddenham conveyancing practitioners have been selected. How long does it take for Yorkshire BS to issue the offer to the conveyancer?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Yorkshire BS done the valuation? Have you informed Yorkshire BS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Bank of Ireland. Is it usual for Bank of Ireland to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Biddenham is approved on their conveyancing panel? Bank of Ireland have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Bank of Ireland to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Should our conveyancer be raising questions regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Biddenham.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in Biddenham. There are those who acquire a house in Biddenham, 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 insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous searches that may be initiated by the purchaser or by their lawyers which will give them a better understanding of the risks in Biddenham. The conventional set of information supplied to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) incorporates a usual question of the seller to find out whether the property has suffered from flooding. If the premises has been flooded in past and is not disclosed by the owner, then a purchaser may bring a claim for damages stemming from an incorrect response. A buyer’s conveyancers will also commission an environmental report. This will disclose if there is any known flood risk. If so, further investigations will need to be conducted.
The deeds to my home can not be found. The conveyancers who did the conveyancing in Biddenham 10 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?
As long as the title is registered the information relating to your proprietorship will be evidenced by HMLR with a Title Number. It is possible to conduct a search at the Land Registry, find your property and obtain current copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. Where the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases retain a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for a small fee.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one close by in Biddenham I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Biddenham suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Biddenham from the point of view of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Biddenham can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors. If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Biddenham home move. If a reissued share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. Many landlords or managing agents in Biddenham charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Biddenham. If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
I inherited a 1st floor flat in Biddenham, conveyancing formalities finalised 3 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Biddenham with a long lease are worth £206,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2092
You have 66 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £11,400 and £13,200 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.