My partner and I changing mortgage lender for our flat in Boston with Virgin Money. We have a son 18 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, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights 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.
I am purchasing a property in Boston. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Principality be concerned?
As your lender is Principality your lawyer must comply with the formal requirements contained in Part two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Principality. The CML Handbook stipulates minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Principality where a lease fails to comply with these requirements. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not isolated to Boston.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Nottingham. I assume I don't need a Boston property lawyer on the Nottingham panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Nottingham 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 Nottingham mortgage from the register. Nottingham, 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 Nottingham has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nottingham has instructed the Land Registry to do so
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Boston. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £150. Shortly after, the conveyancer contacted me to say that they were not on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Skipton panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
The deeds to my property can not be found. The conveyancers who handled the conveyancing in Boston 10 years ago have long since closed. What are my options?
These day there are copies made of almost everything, and your conveyancer will know precisely where to look for all the appropriate documentation so you can purchase or dispose of your property without a hitch. Where copies can’t be found, your conveyancer can arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities against future claims on the property.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Boston I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Boston for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.
How can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my commercial offices in Boston and how can your lawyers assist?
The particular law that you refer to gives a safeguard to business lessees, giving them the right to apply to court for a renewal lease and continue in occupation at the end of an expired lease. There are certain specified grounds where a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are involved. We are happy to direct you to commercial conveyancing solicitors who use the act to your advantage and handle your commercial conveyancing in Boston
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Boston from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Boston can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers’ solicitors. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Boston state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance. You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale. If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Boston conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. Some Boston leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
Boston Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying
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Is there a share of the freehold? What restrictions are contained in the Boston Lease? The majority of Boston leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced by the landlord. If you buy the apartment you will have to meet this liability, usually quarterly during the year. This may vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a significant amount, say around £25-£75 but you need to check as occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds.